The Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume IX, No. 4 [‎227r] (124/172)

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THE MONTHLY RECORD.
EUROPE.
Local Geographical Work in Scotland. -No country in Europe has been
less studied rom the geographical standpoint than the United Kingdom, and the
idea is widely prevalent that geography has no concern with the home country
Any intelligent study of local geographical peculiarities is worthy of beincr en
couraged and on this account we draw attention to three short papers recent
presented to the library of the Society by Mr. David B. Morris, of Stirling on the
Raised Beaches, the Travelled Boulders, and the Glaciation of the Forth Valley,
ihese are not mere compilations from existing writings, but, while recapitulating
many facts previously known, they afford evidence of careful study in the field by
the author. His point of view is rather geological than geographical, but the facts
dealt with are common to the two sciences. It is interesting to note that the
author turned his attention to the physical geography of his neighbourhood as a
result of the stimulus afforded by a course of University Extension lectures on
physiography.
Bibliography of Spain and Portugal.— M. It. Foulche-Delbosc has pub
lished (Revw Hispanique, 1896) a bibliography of travels in the Iberian peninsula
of remarkable completeness and very thorough workmanship. On the principle that
no document should be neglected in endeavouring to form a picture of the state of
a country at any given time, he has aimed at completeness, not selection. He
claims for the records of journeys a more vivid and picturesque truthfulness than
is usually to be found in academic works, the labour of years during which primi
tive impressions have grown dull and facts have often been altered to correspond
with new conditions. Thus, while conceding that part of the collected travels is
useless, the bibliographer contends that the remainder is of incontestible utility.
Ihe numbered bibliography contains the records of 858 journeys from the second
century down to 1895, but the editions and translations of these travels which
are enumerated amount to Ii30. The wideness of research is shown in a table
giving the languages of the original editions, all of which, except about 60, were
actually seen by the compiler. In French there were 313, in English 229, in
German 123, in Spanish 107, in Italian 30, in Portuguese 11, and in ten other
languages there were smaller numbers. In addition to a transcript of the title-
page of each edition referred to, there are frequently short and interesting personal
notes on the author or translator, and in almost every case an itinerary giving the
names of the towns visited and the order in which they were passed through. In
his preface M. Foulcbe-Delbosc mentions that he has compelled himself to identify
all the place-names which in the originals are almost unrecognizable; he says
nothing of the difficulty of the task he thus set himself, or of the great value to
geographers and historians studying the past conditions of the peninsula of the
assistance thus rendered. Articles in journals are included, as well as independent
books. A full index of authors completes the work, to which we are tempted to
wish that an index of place-names had also been added. This list must take a
high place amongst geographical bibliographies.
ASIA.
A New Work on Mongolia.* —Although Mongolia lies close to the Russian
frontier, and there is no lack in Russia of persons well acquainted with the
* ‘ Mongolia and the Mongols. Results of a journey to Mongolia, made in the years
1S92-1893, by A. Pozdneeft'.’ Yol. i. St. Petersburg: 1896. Published by the Russian
Geographical Society.