Written Structures for Presenting the Geography of Regions

Abstract

The title given for this paper advisedly is phrased in the plural form. There is no one most effective structure for presenting the geographical facts and philosophy relating to all portions of the earth's surface; no single mold into which the complex organisms of all geographical regions may be dropped and expected to fit. This' pronouncement need not end the discussion, for, although there may not be any one structure adaptable to all uses, there should not be an endless array of structures from which the regional geographer may choose. If there were so great a number the prospective author in searching the pigeon-holes of an infinite series might well become confused or wearied with the multiplicity of choice and select unwisely as often as wisely. There could be no clearly-recognized guiding principle behind his selection. If it is possible to achieve such an end, geographers need opportunity for a choice of structure for the 'vehicles of their expression but choice within a restricted and well-recognized range. This is true for several reasons. It is assumed that a science of regional geography can rest upon no other foundation than the conviction that the observable phenomena of inhabited earth ultimately shall' be capable of analysis and classification. If this conviction is falsely founded then regional geography is not a field of science but an art which employs descriptive, depictive and interpretative phrases for their informative value or their literary effect or both. We may express the hope that the written structures employed in presenting the geography of regions may have both informative value and such quality as may demonstrate that geographers are at least moderately literate. But, beyond that, they should embody the basis of true scientific quality. The structures of papers in scientific regional geography should be so articulated that the regions they present are capable of comparative analysis. To the unlearned soldier, familiar as he may be with dead men's bones and the sight of decaying horse-flesh, the heel of a man and the hock of a horse have no significant connection. There is in his mind no structural