154 Report >S.A.A. Advancement of Science. 



on the relations of pure Science and Forestry ; but in addressing- a 

 section of the South African Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, wliich includes forestry, I should feel that I was neo-lecting 

 ni}'- duty, if I omitted to congratulate our member, Mr. T. R. Sim, on 

 the publication during the past j^ear of his monumental work on The 

 Forests and Forest-Flora of Cape Colovy. It is sad to think that the 

 present terrible depression has deprived the public service of South 

 Africa of a man who could produce such a work, and, worse still, that 

 at all events in one of the South African colonies this means .standing 

 still, or even going back, in such a vitall}^ important matter as forestrJ^ 

 Let us hope that with returning prosperity increased vigour will be 

 shown in this matter all over South Afiica, and if anj'body may wish 

 to get a concise statement of " What Forestry has done," he should 

 read a pamphlet issued under this title quite recently by the United 

 States Department of Agriculture. He would then also see what it 

 could do for South Africa. 



IMuch of Mr. Sim's work is taken up with the descriptions and 

 figures of the forest plants of South Africa, and as the cost of publi- 

 cation has been borne jointly by the several colonial Goverrnnents, 

 we have in this Avork an official acknowledgment of the fact that 

 an accurate knowledge of the various species constituting this liora is 

 of groat importance to those who administer the forests, since it is for 

 their special beneht that the work was publisiied. 



Thus, wherever we turn we find that pure and applied science go 

 hand in "hand; sometimes pure science is in advance, and does seem 

 to reach beyond practical applications; at otiier times practice seems 

 to be out of touch with theorj', and straightens the path for future 

 developments of pure science. I am not one of those who would de- 

 fend pure science simply because it may lead to practical results. 

 After all, we claim to belong to a civilised race, and appreciate know- 

 ledge for the sake of knowledge only; j^et at this present juncture in 

 South Africa, when money is .scarce even for the necessaries of life, it 

 is perhaps just as well to point out that such branches of science as 

 botany and zoology, apart from their educational value, to which I 

 have purposelj^ not referred, are not mere luxurii^s, but have also their 

 practical aspect. However, the realms of even these branches are so 

 immense, and the number of workers so small, that we must not be 

 too impatient in expecting (|uick and certain results in a very brief 

 period. Nature's processes are so involved that we can only hope for 

 slow advances in our attempts to unravel them. We may s(»metimes 

 even have to retrace our steps, when we have lost our road, but there 

 is no doubt that during recent years very solid progress lias been 

 made, and I venture to think that our association has contributed its 

 mite towards this progress, and that in future, as it gains in strengtli, 

 it will do so in an even more maiked decree. 



