Presidential Address. xxxi 



that science could be taught effectively. I am not certain that either the 

 students or the Councils of the University colleges would welcome a 

 research on the lines which I have suggested. 



A second suggestion which has been made is that a longer course of study 

 should be demanded from those who proceed to a science degree in the 

 University. A change of this kind has been made in medicine, the length 

 of study having been lengthened from four to five and then from five to 

 six years. Obvious objections to such a course are the greatly increased 

 expense to the student, and the fact that so many of those who work 

 for a science degree do not intend to become scientific specialists, being 

 satisfied to attain the comparatively low standard demanded of the science 

 master in the secondary school. If there were more openings in this 

 country for well-trained scientific men there is little doubt that many 

 students would be prepared to undergo a longer and more intensive period 

 of training. 



Still another suggestion which has been made is that more attention 

 should be paid to the teaching of science in the secondary schools. In 

 some of the schools in New Zealand the science teaching is well done ; in 

 others, however, it is certain that the subject receives the " cold shoulder/' 

 With the large number of subjects which enter into the secondary-school 

 curriculum, it could only be by very careful organization and excellent 

 teaching that the average boy could obtain such a grounding in science 

 as would allow him to hasten through the University course of instruction 

 with greater rapidity than is the case at present. 



No institution has done as much as the New Zealand Institute for the 

 encouragement of scientific research in this Dominion. Established in 

 1S67 by an Act of the General Assembly, the Institute bound together 

 the philosophical societies already in existence in different parts of New 

 Zealand. The preamble of the Act states that it is expedient to promote 

 the general study and cultivation of the various branches and departments 

 of science, literature, and philosophy — in other words, to encourage the 

 advancement of every branch of knowledge. The first volume of the 

 Transactions of the Institute was published in May, 1869, and contained 

 articles on geology, ethnology, chemistry, zoology, geography, and engi- 

 neering ; such practical subjects as gold-extraction, the preparation of 

 New Zealand flax, the smelting of Taranaki ironsand, and experiments 

 with hydraulic mortar are amongst the articles ; so that, as at the present 

 day, the philosophers of that time interested themselves with subjects of 

 both theoretical and practical importance. I trust that this interweaving 

 of science with practice will always continue amongst the scientific men 

 of this Dominion. I am glad to be able to tell you that though for fifty 

 years the Government grant to the Institute remained at £500 it has 

 this year, on the recommendation of Sir Francis Bell, been increased to 

 twice that sum. Unfortunately, the cost of printing the Transactions has 

 increased in almost equal proportion, so that the balance left for work in 

 other directions is still small. 



The New Zealand Institute exists, then, mainly for the encouragement 

 of scientific investigation ; and the medium which the Transactions of the 

 Institute provide for publishing the results of scientific observations has 

 done much to stimulate those who, without this encouragement, would 

 never have gone on with their researches. The Institute has lost no 

 opportunity of placing before Cabinet, and other authorities, the need for 

 some definite policy in connection with research work in New Zealand. 



