Section D . 



PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 



SOME ASPECTS OF RECENT PROGRESS IN PURE AND 

 APPLIED NATURAL SCIENCE.- 



By S. ScHoNLAND, Hoii. M.A. (Oxon.), Ph.D., F.L.S., C.M.Z.S. .tc. 



It is now nineteen years almost to the day, that I first arrived 

 in (Jrahanistown from England. During these years the progress of 

 the biological sciences has been so enormous that it is almost hopeless 

 to keep pace with it : but the changes which have occurred in the 

 position occupied by the biological sciences in this country are even 

 more marvellous, and I should like to dwell upon them for a few 

 minutes, as I am sure few people can realise how great they are. 

 When I tirst came there was scarcely a first-class microscope in 

 the country, with the possible exception of some in the hands of 

 medical practitioners. I am pretty safe in stating that there was 

 no public institution owning one. The South African Museum in 

 Capetown, the Cape Government Herbarium, and the Albany Museum 

 in Grahamstown, were the only public institutions in South Africa 

 where natural science, from a scientific point of view, was cultivated, 

 and there were only a few enthusiasts supporting these institutions, 

 which were tolerated rather than looked upon as a concomitant of 

 civilised life. The number of people who had a competent knowledge 

 of pure or applied biology was very small indeed, and bibliographical 

 resources for working on the plants and animals of this country 

 were miserably inadequate. Sir Andrew Smith's Fauna, of South 

 Africa, Harvey's Genera of South African Plants, the three tirst 

 volumes of the Flora. Caiiensis, De Candolle's Frodromus, Sharpe 

 and Layard's Birds of South Africa., and Trimen's Butterflies \vere 

 the most important publications to which we could then turn for 

 direct information in museum or herbarium work. Of course there 

 were innumerable scattered publications on the South African fauna 

 and flora, to which, however, only a few had access, the public 

 libiaries and the libraries of our museums being very poorl}' sup- 

 plied with them. The teaching of zoology had never been attempted. 

 The teaching of botanj^ had been attempted at the South African 

 College by Professor MacOwan, but had been given up. In a few 

 schools botany was taught from English text-books, with the usual 

 terrible results. 



* Publislied in the Afrimn Monthlj), Aug\i^<t, 1908. 



