492 Proceedings. 



autiioritiehi certainly do tlieir best to make the library available for 

 scientific \\(»rker.s, but any one who has occasion to use it knows that it is 

 of little benefit. This the Board of Governors fully realized some time ago, 

 and an offer was made by them to the Government, which was accepted, 

 to hand over the library as a nucleus of a real scientific library as soon as 

 a proper building was erected and a qualified librarian appointed. Nothing 

 has been done as yet — with a war raging it was not to be expected — but 

 we live in liope. With the power of exchange possessed by the New 

 Zealand Institute through its Transactions virtually all the publications 

 of every scientific society throughout the world could be acquired. But 

 this would not be enough, for equally important are the many scientific 

 journals which can only be acquired by purchase. Then there is the host 

 of books, constantly apjjearing, essential for scientific progress. Obviously, 

 the maintenance of such a library is far beyond the income of the Institute, 

 were that ({uadrupled. But the Institute could supply the lion's share 

 of the ac([uisitions. Much also could be done by the various scientific 

 Departments of the Government, whose libraries should also be added to this 

 central library. I do not know of anything that is so greatly needed for 

 scientific research as such a library, and if it were only of one-half the value 

 to the nation which I am claiming for it this evening no money should be 

 less grudged by the people, and no money would be better invested. As 

 it is, every serious worker must at his own expense greatly supplement 

 the scanty literature available ; this has been done for years willingly, and 

 it will continue to be done, but it does not seem to me an altogether 

 creditable state of affairs. 



This fundamental question of an adequate scientific library leads me at 

 once to other as])irations of the New Zealand Institute — that body of 

 scientific folk, and believers in science, who are banded together to add some- 

 thing to human knowledge and to advance thereby the interests of this 

 glorious country of which they are citizens. Next to provision for the 

 library, the Institute desires recognition by the people of New Zealand as a 

 body devoted entirely to their interests, both material and intellectual — a 

 body ready at any time to advise the Government on scientific matters, and 

 to assist to the utmost in any national service for which science is required. 



In the early days of the Institute most of the scientific workers were 

 amateurs. These, it is true, Avere endowed with the holy fire of enthusiasm, 

 but had their limitations nevertheless. At the present time highly trained 

 men — not holders of degrees merely, but men trained by years of experience 

 in research — most of them New Zealand born — are fully comjjetent to 

 undertake almost any scientific investigation. To one like myself, growing 

 old, it is a joy to see how many capable young men belonging to our 

 Institute have come to the front of recent years. 



Before dealing specifically with certain branches of research which I 

 think might well be undertaken by members of the Institute, or others 

 in this country who ought to be members, I must say something regarding 

 the separation of science into the two classes, '' pure " and " applied," as 

 they are called, the former at best merely tolerated by the public, who value 

 a scientific discovery only if it has an evident practical bearing. This 

 state of mind would certainly kill all advance. If carried out for a suffi- 

 cient time throughout the world civilization would not merely remain at a 

 standstill, but deterioration would rapidly set in. The purely scientific 

 must come first, and the practical, without any special coddling by the 

 State, will assuredlv follow. The cure of an infectious disease is onlv the 



