Fifteenth Annual Meeting. 339 



It seems that the death of these two honorary members has been overlooked, as 

 the affiliated societies were not notified of any vacancies in the list, of which there are 

 now three.* 



It is unfortunate that the New Zealand Institute as a seientific body has no funds 

 from which a contribution can be made to the memorial to the late Sir William Ramsay, 

 F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry, and that we have to leave this and similar matters to 

 the affiliated societies. It would certainly bring kudos to the Institute if its name 

 figured amongst the subscribers to such a memorial as this. 



There will be presented to you a summary of the steps taken by the Standing 

 Committee, with which was associated a number of gentlemen interested in industrial 

 matters, to elaborate a scheme for the co-ordination of scientific and industrial research ; 

 so that I need do little more than allude to it. There has been issued by the Govern- 

 ment a report, signed by Mr. Hogben and Dr. Thomson, of the steps that have been 

 taken in other parts of the Empire, and of certain schemes proposed by various bodies 

 in New Zealand, with this object in view. Moreover, the final report of the above 

 Committee has, 1 believe, been circulated. 



I trust that this important matter will not be allowed to rest, but that steps will be 

 taken to persuade the Government of the very serious need for encouraging in every 

 way, and especially by generous financial support, the prosecution of scientific research — 

 not merely of research as applied to industry, but also, and primarily, of research in pure 

 science, which, as we all know, is the foundation of the former. It has taken the 

 scientific men of Britain over forty years to convince the British Government of the 

 value of scientific research, for as long ago as 1870 a Royal Commission recommended 

 the establishment of a State Council of Science presided over by a Minister of Science. 



As Professor Pope pointed out in an address delivered in October last, " If suitable 

 provision had been made by the State for the pursuit of scientific research even twenty 

 years ago, we should have been spared the horrors of the present conflict." It is only 

 now, as the result of the urgent appeals of scientific men in Britain since the com- 

 mencement of the war, that the British Government have estabbshed a Department of 

 Scientific and Industrial Research, with an endowment of £1,000,000. Since the war 

 began the public have awakened to the fact that all our present needs and comforts in 

 orchnary fife are the outcome of discoveries made by scientific men in their laboratories, 

 and several books (such as Gregory's Discovery : The Spirit and Service of Science, and, 

 under Seward's editorship, the series of articles by Cambridge men of science issued 

 under the title Science and the Nation) have been published putting the facts plainly 

 before us, and impressing upon the public that' much of our backwardness in the British 

 Empire is due to inadequate recognition, financial and social, of scientific research. 

 We may hope that the British Government, at least, may thus become acquainted with 

 the value of scientific discovery. 



Here in New Zealand there is need for a constant reminder of these facts : the 

 Councils of our University colleges must be urged again and again to make proper pro- 

 vision for carrying on researches in pure science, for no one can foresee what use may 

 ultimately be made of some apparently trivial discovery in the laboratory ; and the 

 more intimate association of industrialists with scientific men is needed so that they 

 may be kept in touch with the progress of science. It is not enough, however, to draw 

 up a scheme for the purpose of bringing this about : provision must be made for obtain- 

 ing men to do research. At the recent meeting of the University Senate a letter was 

 received from one of the Professors of Chemistry pointing out that it is better to provide 

 adequate trained assistance to a professor, who would thus be relieved of some of the 

 routine work of his chair and might then be able to devote time to research, than to 

 award scholarships to graduates. This is certainly true ; and it is also necessary that 

 greater encouragement should be given to our graduates to continue their studies in the 

 University colleges, and to learn how to carry out research work. At present the only 

 inducement held out to them is a National Research Scholarship, one of which is avail- 

 able each year at each of the four colleges. But the Professorial Boards have repeatedly 

 pointed out to the Education Department that the sum of £100 annually for two years 

 is not sufficient to attract students unless they have independent means, for after 

 spending four or five years in taking their Honours degree they naturally wish to begin 

 earning a livelihood, and are therefore more readily attracted to the teaching profession, 

 where a capable man or woman may obtain a salary of £150 to £180 as a teacher of 

 science in a high school. These Research Scholarships should be made more valuable 

 and increased in number ; and other inducements should be held out to our graduates, 

 so that we may encourage those of our students who are capable of research to con- 



* The death of Dr. Berggren was also announced at the annual meeting. 



