6 PRESIDENT S ADDRESS. 



cine ill London. This post is one of much importance, for the 

 Institute is tlie largest medical research laboratory in the British 

 Empire. Dr. Martin did not wish to leave Australia. His heart 

 was with his students. His work lay in training them to continue 

 what he had begun. His influence was growing in Melbourne. 

 The years of sowing, at times disheartening, were almost over, 

 and the days of fruition and reaping were at hand. An attempt 

 to obtain for him a chair in the University failed, and one of 

 the most inspiring scientific teachers that we have had in Aus- 

 tralia left our shores. 



The influence that Dr. Martin wielded, was due to his personal 

 relations with those around him. He worked with his students 

 at the same tasks. He asked all to take an interest in his 

 researches. When graduates or students started their own re- 

 searches, he came each day to see what was going on. He made 

 the necessary instruments with his own hands. He manipulated 

 the apparatus or took the notes. He drew the conclusions or 

 criticised the inferences. He expected discussion at every step. 

 It is well, perhaps, that I remind you that he fitted up the work- 

 shop, setting up tlie benches with his own hands. He repaired 

 the gas engine that supplied the power. He made the apparatus 

 before H. J. Grayson became the mechanic. He was carpenter, 

 fitter and turner, glass worker and electrician for the laboratory, 

 and for the rest of us. He was the chief under whom we all 

 delighted to serve. I am afraid that we shall never be able to 

 let you know how much we stand in his debt. 



I would like to add just a few words about his methods of 

 teaching science. He did not use diagrams or models to any 

 extent. If he referred to the structure of a muscle-fibre, he 

 threw on the screen the image cast by a specimen of muscle 

 through a projecting microscope. The students thus formed 

 their own mental pictures of natural objects instead of accepting 

 the interpretation that some other person had embodied in a 

 diagram or model. Each lesson was a demonstration rather than 

 an exposition. Experiment followed experiment throughout each 

 lecture. These experiments were selected to answer the queries 

 which rose in tlie mind as the result of the previous experiment. 



