The Study of Place Names Recent Work and Some Possibilities

THE many methods which have been followed in studies of geographical names might be grouped under two general heads: (i) accumulative and (2) ecological. The accumulative methods are not unlike those of the botanical collector, whose first interest is in gathering and ticketing specimens. The toponym collector draws up lists of place names and garners details regarding the origin and meaning of each ; he is concerned primarily with the individual name. The ecological methods-if we may borrow this term from biology-are those in which investigation is made into the nature of the geographical nomenclature in the large and more especially in its relation to the environment, past and present, physical and human. Interest in this case is not confined to or centered upon the individual name.