The redistribution of mankind / by H.N. Dickson.

  • Dickson, H. N. (Henry Newton), 1866-1922.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The redistribution of mankind / by H.N. Dickson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of human enterprise and endurance have shown no change; we need no list of names to prove that they were alike in the days of the earliest explorations, of the discovery of the New World, or of the sea route to India, of the “ Principal! Navigations,” or of this final attaimnent of the poles. The love of adventure and the gifts of courage and endurance have remained the same; the order of discov- ery has been determined rather by the play of imagination upon ac- cumulated knowledge, suggesting new methods and developing ap- propriate inventions. Men have dared to do risky things with inad- equate appliances, and in doing so have shown how the appliances may be improved and how new enterprises may become possible as well as old ones easier and safer. As we come to the end of these “ great explorations,” and are restricted more and more to investiga- tions of a less striking sort, it is well to remember that in geography, as in all other sciences, research continues to make as great demands as ever upon those same qualities and that the same recognition is due to those who continue in patient labor. When we look into the future of geographical study it appears that for some time to come we shall still be largely dependent upon work similar to that of the pioneer type to which I have referred, the work of perfecting the geographer’s principal weapon, the map. There are many parts of the world about which we can say little except that we know they exist; even the topographical map, or the mate- rial for making it, is wanting; and of only a few regions are there really adequate distributional maps of any kind. These matters have been brought before this section and discussed very fully in recent years, so I need say no more about them, except perhaps to express the hope and belief that the production of topographical maps of difficult regions may soon be greatlv facilitated and accel- erated with the help of the new art of flying. I wish to-day rather to ask your attention for a short time to a phase of pioneer exploration which has excited an increasing amount of interest in recent years. Civilized man is, or ought to be, begin- ning to realize that in reducing more and more of the available sur- face of the earth to what he considers a habitable condition he is making so much progress, and making it so rapidly, that the problem of finding suitable accommodations for his increasing numbers must become urgent in a few generations. We are getting into the posi- tion of the merchant whose trade is constantly expanding and who foresees that his premises will shortly be too small for him. In our case removal to more commodious premises elsewhere seems impos- sible—we are not likely to find a means of migrating to another planet—so we are driven to consider means of rebuilding on the old site and so making the best of what we have that our business may not suffer.