Lecture by Prof. Roxby: The Modern Conception of Geography The first session of the 9th annual meeting of the East China Educational Association was held in Union Church Hall on Monday afternoon. Dr. Francis J. White, President of the Association, called the meeting io order promptly at 2 p.m. The large attendance of both Chinese and Western educators at this opening meeting promises well for the success of the conferences, After a preliminary business session, the President delivered an address of welcome to the Association and pointed out the important problems that should come up for consideration. A matter of very far reaching importance was then introduced by Rev. E. H. Cressey, Chairman of the Committee on Reorganization. The Committee recommended that the Association employ a permanent secretary who would give full time to the work of the Association.
The plan was adopted and a committee was appointed to bring in nominations for this important post.
The Association is fortunate at this meeting in that the Educational Commission which has been studying the problems of missionary education since September 1921, is sitting in Shanghai at this time and several members of the Commission are on the programme of the Association. Professor P. M. Roxby, of the University of Liverpool, a member of the Commission, delivered the address of the afternoon. His subject was "The Modern Conception of Geography."
Gero@RaPHY AND SoctaL Prosreus.
Prof. Roxby pointed out that the modern conception is in reality not what had been held by the great geographers of the past. He quoted Lord Bryce's definition of geography as the point where the natural sciences and the humanities come together, and urged the knowledge of geography as fundamental in solving the great' social problems of the modern world. He called attention first to the fact that the study of geography has been made much more scientific by the classification of the climates of the world according to types. As an illustration, the Mediterranean type of climate consisting of rainy winters and dry summers is found in five other localities, namely, California, central Chili, southwest Africa, and southwestern Australia.
He showed in the -second place that there are different types of social life and organizations dependent on these climatic conditions. An_ illustration of this is the pastoral people of the grassy steppes of Asia, people who
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.