pI{p:sident's address. 21 



Avork uf investigation. The research student learns tliat his in- 

 vestigation is regarded as a personal matter, and that the time 

 taken in its performance is considered misspent, since some of 

 the experiments may have been done in the hours for which he 

 is presumably paid by the University or State. Australian 

 graduates are considered by some of the official heads in our 

 Universities as required only for the "teaching of the drill-work." 

 The graduate who does research work rather than this drudgery 

 need expect no promotion in some of the Departments of our 

 University. Surely this is a poor policy in our educational 

 development. Ability to do research work is not commonly 

 found. The desire to carry it on continuously is even less fre- 

 quently present. The power of directing investigation in others 

 to a successful conclusion is one of the rarest accomplishments. 

 These facts are well known to the members of the Senate of our 

 Universities, to the heads of our Departments of Health, Mines, 

 Agriculture, and Education, to the members of the State Com- 

 mittees and the Executive Committee of the Federal Advisory 

 Council of Science and Industry. Why is it so difficult to pass 

 from opinion to practice in these matters? Why is there not 

 a better attempt to ensure that every scientist in ISTew^ South 

 Wales who shows that he can train students to become more 

 efficient investigators, has as many students as possible brought 

 under his influence? Not infrequently after years of labour in 

 building up a laboratory and a team of workers, the investigator 

 is driven to cast aside what has been done, to provide himself with 

 an income sufficient for his needs. 



The naturalist is not only interested with the structure of 

 dead animals and dried plants, but he spends his time in learning 

 of the behaviour of living animals and plants. Living animals 

 and plants seem endowed with attributes not found among inani- 

 mate objects. Life is associated with a definite form of con- 

 struction. If we cut a thin slice of a rock and recognise that 

 the rock is built up of inorganic material arranged to show a 

 body-wall and nucleus, such as are found in vegetable or animal 

 cells, we know that we are looking at the petrified remains of 

 what was once alive. Not only so, but if we find any substance 



