Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume VIII, No. 5 [‎41r] (84/154)

GEOGRAPHY AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION, LIVERPOOL, 1896. 487
the first settler in British Columbia, congratulated Mr. Odium on his
paper.
Mr. J. Scott Keltic, who had just returned from Christiania, gave an
account of the triumphal reception of Dr. Nansen, and a sketch of the
achievements of the great Arctic expedition. He read extracts from an
article by Professor Mohn (see the October number of the Journal), who
expressed the highest possible delight and admiration at the scientific
results of the observations, especially those on meteorology and terres
trial magnetism. Sir Erasmus Ommanney and Mr. Coles spoke of the
unique value of Nansen’s work.
Mr. A. J. Herbertson demonstrated the use of a simple arrangement
for explaining the principle of map-projections. It consists of a
hemisphere made up of wire meridians and parallels, the shadow of
which is thrown on a sheet of paper by means of a candle sliding along
a graduated bar. The nature of the projection Any method by which the earth’s curved surface may be transposed (or projected) on to a flat surface. , of course, varies with
the position of the candle.
Mr. B. Y. Darbishire showed a new population map of the South
Wales coal-district. It gave the position of all detached inhabited
houses as well as the villages and towns, and having the contour-lines
of elevation, it brought out the relation of population to land-form.
Mr. A. J. Herbertson read the interim-report of the Committee on
Geographical Teaching, in which he stated that he had collected a
large amount of material; but the Committee, having been unable to
obtain access to some important returns, wished to delay the full report
until next year, when it could be presented in its entirety.
Mr. Coutts-Trotter proposed, and Mr. Eli Sowerbutts seconded, a
vote of thanks to the president (Major Darwin), the vice-presidents who
had assisted him in the chair (Messrs. John Coles and Horace Walker),
the secretaries of the Section, and the local secretaries for the admirable
hall provided.
Papers of geographical interest were as usual read in many sections
besides that specially devoted to geography. In Section A (Mathema
tics and Physics), Dr. L. A. Bauer discussed some problems in terrestrial
magnetism, Mr. H. M. Taylor read a paper on great-circle sailing, and
reports were submitted by the Committees on seismological observations
and on meteorological photographs. In Section C (Geology), Mr.
Man’s presidential address abounded in allusions to results of physical
geography, and much interest was aroused in a series of papers on ocean
depth and deposits, introduced by Mr. E. B. Wethered, on the depths of
the sea in past epochs. Mr. T. Mellard Eeade discussed the oscillations
in the level of the land near Liverpool from geological evidence, and
Mr. G. H. Morton spoke of the erosion of the sea-coast of Wirral, the
tongue-shaped peninsula between the Mersey and the Dee.
In Section D (Zoology), the president, Professor Poulton, reviewed
the evidence regarding the age of the Earth from the physical as well