Abstract
AT the anniversary meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, on May 17, the President, Sir Clements Markham, F.R.S., in place of the usual annual address, gave a review of the progress of British geography during the sixty years of the Queen's reign. The practice of delivering an anniversary address was commenced in 1837 by the then President, Mr. W. R. Hamilton, in the eighth year of the Society. The first presidential address took the form of a survey of the position of geography at the time, and now forms a suitable landmark by which to estimate the advance that has been made. The Ordnance Survey of the British Islands was fairly under way, and that of India was also in progress. Hydrographic surveys were being pursued by British ships in every sea, and the coasts of Africa had been charted. The whole interior of Africa, most of Australia, and immense territories in Asia and South America were absolutely unexplored. The whole science of oceanography, although created by Rennell, had not yet been recognised.
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The Royal Geographical Society. Nature 56, 63 (1897). https://doi.org/10.1038/056063a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/056063a0