Walter Edward McCourt

“ In dealing with literature in this connection, people may shake their heads. If one attempts to trace the influence of sea, mountain, desert, river, seasons, climate, they might say "Of course. That is nature. Of course our literature reflects those things." But, if literature were permeated with expositions of and similes concerning the mechanics of solids and fluids, would it not be interesting at least to trace the relation between physics and literature? The first literary themes of peoples are always songs of the sea, the river, the night, the mountain. ”

“ From the Himalayan austerity, the solitude of tropic forests, the unmastered floods of great rivers—from such tremendous natural phenomena came the Hindoo religion, a nature worship tinged with the melancholy of future oblivion. In Hindoo mythology the lofty mountains are invested with great sanctity and thousands of pilgrims journey year after year to the holy sources of the Ganges. From the cruel desert came the idea of Mohammedanism, of eternal bliss, an unending dream of sensuous delight attained by the faithful after the privations of a desert life. ”

“ The Romans had no music, because they were enormously successful commercially, because of their geography, and war and conquest were their first considerations. Something of the same is true of America to-day. Too anxious to utilize to the fullest extent her geographical wealth, she borrows music; chiefly from the negro. Folksongs, one of the truest types of music emanate from the geographically determined life of peoples. All nations had their songs to the soil, to the flock, to the soldiers' march through plain and mountain, had songs of the fisherman, the sower, the reaper. ”

“ It was easy for them to make a god of the sea—a husky-voiced and turbulent old man whose form none might clearly know because he changed so often and was so secret in his ways, who shook the earth in anger and had the white-maned billows of the deep for horses." All earliest religions at least had their nature worship. The rain made food grow; the sun gave warmth; the thunder-storms could put an end to a long drought. ”

“ But such remembrances are probably becoming fewer, for in the minds of many thinkers to-day there is no doubt that the science of geography is one which furnishes much food for thought and much opportunity for research. Not only in the works of many of the older thinkers and philosophers, but also in the pages of various current periodicals and in some of the excellent modern histories, may one see something of the attitude which endeavors to view many human activities in their relation to the geographic stage. ”

“ From making the study of geography dwindle into a mere recital of fact—with what hours of dullness or dryness!—it may be of interest or profit to somewhat fully give to geography a place beyond that of a mere catalogue of distribution, and to enrich its apparent field by glancing at some of its interesting causes and tremendous effects. ”

“ Philosophy, which may be briefly defined as an attempt at formulating the universe, utilizes the material results of all fields of knowledge and science, and, in so far as these are related to geography, in so far is philosophy also associated. For the names of philosophers who have been influenced by geographical problems and conditions, one has but to turn the pages of the history of geography, and see the names of Thales, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Ptolemy, Bacon, Ritter, Tyndall, Darwin, Comte. ”

“ Though the field is, I grant, entirely too large to be covered in a brief paper, yet, to make of geography not merely a collection of bald facts, but a study most intimately associated with and related to the fields of human activity—commerce, industry, history, science, thought, music, literature and art—that is what I mean by a "philosophy of geography." ”

“ Geography ought to awaken an interest and kindle an enthusiasm rivaled by few other sciences, to all minds, the mature as well as the young, because of its far-reaching relations. What about the romance of the forces of the earth, the beauty of topographic expression? ”

“ In the study of the highest of animals the same influence is of remarkable importance in the shaping of his character and habits. Why does the African have as occupations, hunting, fishing and modest kinds of agriculture? Why are the Negroids more advanced in culture than the true blacks? Why are the Thibetans pastoral? Why did the Incas represent a superior American type? How have peoples been influenced by the presence of a great river, a vast desert, a yielding mountain, a tundra waste? ”

“ Art of two dimensions, so to speak, painting, tapestry and embroidery, has been probably more affected by geographic environment than any other forms. Commerce had a distinct influence here. The crusades brought the new world into contact with the east, and European manuscripts became beautifully illumined after oriental style. Climate, here, too, exerts no little influence. In dry, clear countries the people can see great distances, everything stands out in bold relief, and paintings are apt to be very bright in color, quite different from the work in moist, foggy lands. ”

“ We can not understand the make up of the earth, the so-called "mineral kingdom," unless we deal with chemical materials. It is the laws of physics which enable us to theorize about and understand the workings of many geologic processes, as mountain formation and volcanic activity. It is indeed obvious that physical geography rests in an intimate relation with these sciences ”

“ At the sea, mountain dwellers, peoples living in fertile valleys, people inhabiting regions of volcanic or atmospheric disturbances, the desert tribes, or peoples on beautifully luxurious lands—we find their psychological attitudes individually stamped. If typical individuals from such localities were examined, what a range we should find in imagination, optimism, attention, superstition, emotion, habit—all provinces of psychology! Occupations affect mental states to a great extent, and these often depend upon geography. ”

“ The history of geography, which leads to the geography of to-day, is a record of achievement, colonization, trading, conquest, religious zeal, and scientific endeavor. The nomads move because the environment will not support them. ”

“ One finds that species and their distribution are determined largely by food, climate and physical conditions. The mountain goat, the camel of the desert, the river beaver, the wading and swimming birds, the antelope of the plains, the apes of the jungle, the reindeer and polar bear in the arctic, the coral in the warm seas—many of their adaptations are determined by the geography of their homes. ”

“ The fruits supply the tropical savage, there where the warm climate supports a variety of vegetable life, so that the native has but to step from his grass hut to find his daily bread. Pastoral peoples have their milk foods, dwelling as they do in the sweeping plains of Australia or Russia which support flocks of sheep and herds of oxen. Moreover wheat, corn, maize, meat, which are all products of the physical earth, of climatic and geographical conditions, go far to shape the man of the temperate zone. ”

“ The earth supplies man with the necessities of food, clothing and shelter, which, naturally, differ in different parts of the world. And yet in each locality man has adapted himself to these differences. ”

“ As for occupations, does not one see in the hunting of the African wilderness, the herding on the plains of Patagonia, the agriculture of the river valleys, the mining of the mountains, the lumbering of Canada, the fruit growing of California a relationship with the geographic field? ”

“ When a community possesses more material than can be utilized by it, peoples begin a trade, thus establishing commercial relations, with the development, on a large scale, of agriculture, manufacturing and other industries. Man would not have made rugs in India, for there was no wool. Nor would he have made gold ornaments in England, for there the gold was absent. The Persians made rugs, for wool was at their door; the Hindoos carved gems, for Indian plateaus were pregnant with them ”

“ The making of carpets and tapestries goes hand in hand with such climatic conditions as will produce wool and silk. The pearl carvings are most beautiful among people living near the warm waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans. There is a great predominence of yellow and red in Indian designs—because iron compounds are plentiful in the earth. The refinement of Greek detail would never have been possible without her fine marble quarries. Indeed, climate and the prevailing materials in any country determine much the character of the finished building. ”

“ How did the Himalayas affect history?—serving as a barrier, hindering the migration of both man and beast, and protecting the people from invasion? Among mountain people many ancient customs are preserved. ”

“ In the study of animal life we do not find so direct a dependence upon geographic conditions as in that of plants, just as among men of to-day the dependence upon immediate environment is less marked than in the life of their primitive ancestors, largely because of the "power of locomotion." ”

“ The relationship of man to the physical things of the earth is one which can be traced out in the minutest detail, especially, of course, in primitive communities where food is absolutely dependent upon geographic location. ”

“ Where external conditions were not good for the throat there was a greater amount of inventing rude and noisy instruments. Brinkton says: "The use of noisy instruments recalled the voices of pealing thunder, the mad rushing waters and the wailing of the winds." Early music went hand in hand with the dance, which was, in turn, largely developed in warm climates and on fertile soils. The Esquimaux savage does not sing and dance as the tropical ones, nor does singing come from the people of the frozen tundra save of the poorest sort. Most Hebrew music was strangely harsh ”

“ Power is needed in extensive manufacture, and where power is cheap or easily obtainable there may arise immense industrial centers, as at Birmingham, Pittsburgh and Niagara Falls—where fuel is at a stone's throw away, or where the mighty rush of water furnishes energy, and where it is often comparatively cheap to bring, for manufacture, raw materials produced elsewhere. ”

“ Psychology, according to James, "deals with states of consciousness as such "—with all states of consciousness—that of the child, the criminal, the lover, the workman, the poet; and in so far as geographical conditions may affect a state of consciousness, to that extent does the geographical factor have a bearing upon psychology. ”

“ As was suggested, the mental image called forth by the word geography would doubtless be to many a mass of disconnected details, dealing chiefly with the idea of localization and definition and the remembrance of things in themselves uninteresting. An island was a mass of land entirely surrounded by water. ”

“ England owes much of her historical importance to the geographical fact that the sinkings of the land give the coast such an irregularity of outline as is always favorable to the development of navigation, commerce, fishing. Why has Austria been from time to time the scene of inroads by Asian peoples? ”

“ The towers, minarets, fine tracery and carving of the cathedrals and churches of Europe owe their existence to a great extent to the use of soft limestone and caenstone. There are flat roofs in dry countries, pitched roofs where there is little rain, and steep ones in snowy regions. ”

“ The Japanese, Chinese and Hindoos possess a natural artistic skill probably greatly determined by their geographical wealth—gold, metal, precious stones and ivory, the silk-worm, and the many vegetable paints and dyes that could be made from the soils. ”

“ Because the brisk air of mountains helps to develop a brave, hardy people, and because of her impregnable position among the Alps. Why did the early American settlers locate along the Atlantic coast and not push towards the west? ”

“ And indeed this factor is quite as important in certain respects as other factors of heredity, physiological constitution, immediate environment. James says: "Mental facts can not be studied apart from the physical environment of which they are cognizant." Strachey writes: "By the influence and study of external nature are found and developed man's emotional, intellectual and moral faculties. ”

“ Because she lies open to the Black Sea and the plains of central Europe.
Man, with certain limits, differs from his lower cousins of the animal family by being able to take his environment by the forelock and make use of it for his own convenience. ”

“ In short, in many places, as raw materials were present, so manufactures grew—porcelain in Japan, rugs in Persia, ships in Norway, pottery in England, steel in Birmingham, smelting at Denver, cement in New Jersey. ”