SOME PROBLEMS OF RESEARCH 23 



merit to assist in this interchange of publications and information 

 on more general lines. 



Any subject concerning Africa has really to be studied as a world 

 subject and not merely in regard to its implications in that con- 

 tinent. Thus the mapping of Africa's surface must be designed to 

 fit into the geodetic triangulation of the world; anyone working on 

 sleeping sickness needs to be familiar with literature on biting-flies 

 and their habits in all parts of the world, with studies on plant 

 succession, etc. It follows, therefore, that such an organization as 

 that suggested above would be most useful in putting the inquirers 

 into touch with the right authorities in each subject, and in know- 

 ing who is working in Africa on all branches. 



CONCLUSION 



There has been a great awakening of interest in the part that 

 science can play in African affairs. This is shown by the formation 

 in recent years of organizations such as the Association Colonies- 

 Sciences in Paris, the Institut Royal Colonial Beige in Brussels, the 

 Commission of Scientific Research for the Portuguese colonies, 

 established in 1935, and a similar organization recently formed in 

 Rome for the increased Italian possessions. Then the societies 

 and universities of South Africa, especially the Royal Society of 

 South Africa and the South African Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, have had an influence which extends far beyond 

 the frontiers of the Union. In England the Royal African Society 

 and the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures 

 have done valuable work, and in most territories societies have 

 sprung into being, many of which publish their own journals con- 

 taining articles of much value. 



In spite of all such signs of interest, however, and in spite of the 

 admirable hands in which, as a general rule, the direction of science 

 lies, it could not be claimed that African development has so far 

 been greatly influenced by the results of scientific research. In 

 a continent which has been developed almost wholly in the twen- 

 tieth century, there might have been more room than elsewhere 

 for such influence, but this has not been the case; economic 

 development has taken the lead and often chooses the wrong turn- 



