Geographer

“ The progress which has made the physical geography of the lands what it is to-day is more the work of geologists than of geographers; and the chief reason for this is the indifference of many geographers to the physical side of their subject; an indifference that was undoubtedly favored by the cultivation of historical geography in continental Europe, and by the acceptance of the traveler or explorer as a full-fledged geographer in Great Britain. ”

“ Without the aid of Geology the geographer cannot, in fact, discriminate between mountains of elevation and mountains of denudation; hence geographical terms so constantly in use as mountain-range and mountain-chain are very often applied by writers, ignorant of geological structure, to elevated regions which have no claim to be described either as chains or ranges. Some knowledge of Geology, therefore, is essential to us if we would have correct views of many of the grandest features of the globe. ”

“ It is the task of the geographer to bring together from all places on the earth's surface the materials from which shall be deduced the scientific conception of Nature. Geography supplies the rough blocks wherewith to build up that grand structure toward the completion of which science is striving. The traveler, who is the journeyman of science, collects from all quarters of the earth observations of fact, to be submitted to the research of the student, and to provide the necessary means of verifying the inductions obtained by study or the hypotheses suggested by it. ”

“ The endeavor to meet the requirements of a higher geography is also to be seen in the better style of our modern maps. Thus, whereas in former times the seas were represented by blank spaces surrounding the land, now we have the results of soundings carefully represented, and the lines of equal depths, as they are more or less parallel to the present contours of the coast, supply to the geographer valuable data with respect to the formation of the land itself. ”

“ The reason why all these studies of land carving are of importance to the geographer is that they greatly enlarge the number of type forms that he may use in descriptions, and that they recognize the natural correlations among various forms which must otherwise be set forth in successive itemized statements. ”

“ It is the province of the biologist to trace the one series of changes, of the geologist to investigate the other. The geographer gathers from both the data which enable him to connect the present aspects of nature with those out of which they have arisen. ”

“ He finds, on the other hand, an early predominance of reason in the inhabitants of a country like ancient Greece, where natural features are on a small scale, more comprehensible, nearer the measure of man himself.18 The scientific geographer, grown suspicious of the omnipotence of climate and cautious of predicating immediate psychological effects which are easy to assert but difficult to prove, approaches the problem more indirectly and reaches a different solution. ”

“ The modern map, well and thoroughly made, records faithfully every fact concerning the surface of the earth now known to man, and there is very little about it that scholarly geographers do not now know. In addition to the modern map’s accuracy, it is as much more attractive than its forebears to the eye as the beautiful color pictures now used in textbooks are seen to be when compared with the muddy wood cuts that appeared in schoolbooks a century or more ago. ”

“ He noted all the little streams, the names of villages, the hill features, and so on; and at night he drew on his route map, with the greatest care, the journey of the day, and all the data that may be recorded on a map. Geographers still examine with great interest these neat and methodical map sheets. But they did not know, till years after Junker had returned home, that he had achieved, as we shall see, one of the most remarkable geographical feats on record. ”

“ Geographers, when they make maps, seem to start with the notion that there must be a certain number of islands, &c. inserted in each map; and when they have located the larger and more important ones within fifteen or twenty degrees of latitude and longitude of their proper places, which is as near as they commonly come to the truth, they proceed to distribute the remainder according to their own taste. ”

“ A map based on native information can, of course, never hope to compete in precision with one constructed by the methods of a modern survey; but it need not be very far behind those produced by the rough-and-ready methods of the geographers of a hundred, or even fifty, years ago. Its object is to give a general idea of the district it covers, and, more especially, to give future travellers an objective, and sufficiently accurate information as to its position, to enable them to find it. ”

“ Thus geology, meteorology, oceanography and anthropology developed into distinct sciences. The absurd attempt was, and sometimes is still, made by geographers to include all natural science in geography; but it is more common for specialists in the various detailed sciences to think, and sometimes to assert, that the ground of physical geography is now fully occupied by these sciences. ”

“ Notwithstanding these impediments, however, we should be able to identify at least mountains and rivers, to a much greater extent than is now practicable, if our maps were not so miserably defective in their nomenclature. None of our surveyors or geographers have been oriental scholars. ”

“ So geographers, in Afric maps, With savage pictures fill their gaps, And o'er unhabitable downs Place elephants for want of towns. ”

“ For in the schoolroom, as far as the study of the map went, we began with the symbol and stuck to the symbol. No teacher of geography I ever had, except the master I referred to, took the pains to ascertain whether I had any sense of the facts for which the symbols stood. Outside the study of maps, geography consisted of statistics: tables of population, imports and exports, manufactures, and degrees of temperature; dimensions of rivers, mountains, and political states; with lists of minerals, plants, and plagues native to any given part of the globe. ”

“ Cartography is a powerful aid to scientific geography, inasmuch as it arranges in true projection a great mass of heterogeneous materials, bringing it before the eye within small space, and thus making apparent relations which else could hardly be noticed. As for political geography, viz., the description of the various empires of the world, their area, provinces, population, etc., this we would regard rather as a branch of statistics than of geography proper.—Gaea. ”

“ Such a parallel of the historic survey of the city to that of its underlying geological area is thus in no wise a metaphoric one, but one which may be worked out upon maps sections and diagrams almost completely in the same way—in fact, with little change save that of colours and vertical scale. The attempt to express the characteristic and essential life and thought of a given region in each period upon a series of maps is in fact the best method of understanding the everyday map at which we commonly look so unthinkingly. ”

“ The great value of the modern topographical map is becoming, however, universally acknowledged, and every highly civilized nation has either completed or has in preparation sectional topographical maps of its domain on such a scale as is warranted by its financial condition and its state of development. Thus there is now being accumulated a vast library of geographical and to some extent geological information, of which the student of geology must be prepared to make use. ”

“ Study a good map—a quadrangle of the U. S. Geological Survey, for instance. Note what things are represented, and how representation is made: study the map, until it is thoroughly understood.
There are three factors with which the map-maker deals: direction, distance, and elevation. With the first, he must always reckon, and usually with the second and the third as well.
Direction is fundamental. Suppose there are three dominant points in the area to be mapped, relatively situated as here indicated. ”

“ Much the same may be said of the dikes of cooled magma which have been injected along preëxisting fractures.
The base of the geological map.—Modern topographic maps form an important part of the library of the serious student of physiography; they are the gazetteer of this branch of science. Every civilized nation has to-day either completed a topographic atlas of its territory, or it is vigorously prosecuting a survey to furnish maps which represent the relief with some detail, and publishing the results in the form of an atlas of quadrangles. ”

“ The history of geographical discovery in America is thus in large measure a history of conquest. Men got to know both coast-line and interior while endeavouring either to trade or to settle where nature was propitious, or the country afforded mineral or vegetable wealth that could be easily transported. Of the coast early knowledge was acquired for geography; but where the continent broadens out either north or south, making the interior inaccessible for trade purposes with the coasts, ignorance remained even down to the nineteenth century. ”

“ The topographical survey of a country is defined by Sir A. Scott Waugh to imply ‘the measurement and delineation of the natural features of a country, and the works of man thereon, with the object of producing a complete and sufficiently accurate map. Being free from the trammels of boundaries of properties, the principal lines of operations must conform to the features of the country, and objects to be surveyed.’
The only safe basis for the topographical survey of a country is a system of accurate triangulation. ”

“ After a little practice in map reading one becomes proficient and he will be able if in unsurveyed territory to make his own map. Get the compass directions from the camp of every prominent landmark with particular attention to streams and the ridges separating them. If one is out exploring it is a good idea to climb to the summit of some bare faced promontory and there study the topography of the country:—the location of the lakes, swamps, whither the streams run, the number and direction of the ridges, etc. ”

“ A geologist who requires a base map that includes new topographic data should address a request for its preparation to the chief geologist, who, through the Director, will refer the request to the topographic branch. ”

“ The accessions to geographical knowledge had become so vast and the details were so enormous that the work of giving the whole of the surface of the earth, as far as known, with all the details of continents, oceans, gulfs, bays, straits, rivers, mountain-ranges, and islands, with any marked approximation to correctness, was not accomplished until Mercator produced his great map of the world in 1569 ”

“ The complete atlas will consist of several thousand folios, each of which contains a topographical and a geological map of a small section of country, and will be named after some well-known town or natural feature within the limits of the district named. The topographical maps will show the reliefs, drainage, and cultures of the districts, indicated by the usual or definite conventional marks. The geological maps will show on distinct sheets the areal geology, or the areas occupied by the various rocks of the district; the economical geology, or the distribution of useful minerals ”

“ Latitude and longitude, which lie at the basis of all descriptive geography, are determined by observation. No map deserves the name, on which the position of important points has not been astronomically determined. Some even of our most important political and administrative arrangements depend upon the coöperation of this science. Among these I may mention the land system of the United States, and the determination of the boundaries of the country. ”

“ A finished map border is used or omitted according to the kind of map prepared. Diagrammatic maps and maps on which no parallels and meridians appear do not need finished borders. On a map that shows complete areal geologic or other coloring, such as a map in a Survey geologic folio, the border lines tend to destroy the simple effect of the whole map. On a map that is not completely colored and on all very large maps borders are really necessary. ”

“ In spite of the fact that the requirements in history state that geographical knowledge will be tested by requiring the location of places and movements on an outline map, in spite of the fact that almost every set of questions for nine years has demanded map work, the papers of candidates have shown that instruction in geography, including the use of maps, has been signally neglected. ”

“ Just as maps are made to show graphically the facts of political geography, which concerns the position and extent of the various powers and States which claim the allegiance of the people, and the facts of physical geography, which concerns the physical character of the earth's surface, so maps are made to show the geographical distribution of animals. ”

“ On seeing a relief map of one of the continents for the first time, there arises a sense of wonder and surprise, and as the realization dawns upon one of the continuity of the great mass of land represented, with its altitudes and depressions, and that it is one stupendous aggregation of soil, rock and vegetation, surrounded by a great expanse of water, a feeling of awe and astonishment is awakened. ”