50 PKESIDEXTIAL ADDRESS — SECTION I!. 



quently been obliged to defer the continuation of or abandon an 

 investigation for lack of the relevant literature. There are. 't 

 is true, a large number of periodicals in the possession oif differ- 

 ent institutions and private individuals in the country, ibut to the 

 individual worker they are, to all intents and juirposes, inacces- 

 sible. Few people would care to entail the trouble and expense 

 involved in sending a large number of big volumes about, often 

 for the sake of a reference of a few lines. And few owners 

 would care to part with such books of reference, which are 

 often in constant use, for any length of time. I have made a 

 compilation from a large number of phytochemical publication^ 

 of the periodicals most frequently referred to, which I append. 

 If 'funds are available for the purpose, those periodicals, dating 

 back, if possible, to their inception, should be incorporated in a 

 central library. I am discussing only the research in plant con- 

 stituents. When the question of making provision for physico- 

 chemical or mineralogical or technological research arises, the 

 list will 'have to be augmented. To make these periodicals avail- 

 able for every research chemist a librarian would have to be 

 appointed, with a chemical training and the necessary working 

 knowledge of the principal European languages, whose duty it 

 would be to make excerpts for all research workers desiring in- 

 formation on certain points. It may be argued that such a 

 scheme, if carried through for all experimental sciences, will 

 entail the necessity of appointing a large library staff. But the 

 actual amount of work required for each science will, for many 

 years to come, be so small that one man, provided he is properly 

 {|ualified, can cope with several subjects. Even if such a scheme 

 should be considered feasible, some considerable time must elapse 

 before it can be realised. Until then I would suggest that a cata- 

 logue of all chemical reference literature in the possession of 

 individuals be drawn up on the same lines as the existing cata- 

 logue of reference works in the Peninsula, issued by the South 

 African Library, and that the owners be approached to furnish 

 replies to enquiries in much the same way as should be done 

 by the Central Library, if such is created. As no individual or 

 institution is in possession of more than one or two periodicals, 

 the amount of work thrown on them would not be excessive. 

 In addition, a small retaining- fee might be paid to some South 

 African students studying any of the experimental sciences in 

 Europe or America, in return for making such abstracts as may 

 from time to time be required by research workers, or, better 

 still, it might be made a condition attaching to all Government 

 and University scholarships. With an equitable distribution of 

 the work, very little would fall on the shoulders of each student. 

 I have heard some very severe criticisms on the quality and 

 quantity of research work done in this country, but such criti- 

 cism comes from countries where research work is regarded as 

 one of the functions of educational establishments and of certain 

 Government departments. The daily routine and office duties 

 leave the Government analyst very little leisure, and the Pro- 



