jo Report S.A.A. Advancement of Science. 



These considerations lead us to the conclusion that the chemical 

 industries have a great future in the Eastern part of South Africa 

 but not in the West, because in the East we have an abundance of all 

 those material considerations upon which the development and 

 growth of all technical industries, and principally chemical industries, 

 depend, whilst the West will also remain in future more or less what 

 it is now, a thinly-populated country, with a little agriculture and 

 viticulture in some favourably-situated localities of the coast districts, 

 and sheep and cattle-farming in the Karroo districts. 



But let us return from this contemplation of future prospects to 

 the present time. One branch of Metallurgy, which is simply another 

 name for Chemical Technology of Metals, has, in connection with the 

 gold industry, been considerably advanced through the work and re- 

 search of able and competent scientific workers. I refer to the 

 development of the Cyanide Process, without which the Rand gold 

 industry could not exist. I shall not enter into a discussion of this 

 process, since we are going to have a paper on this subject by Mr. 

 W. A. Caldecott, which I have no doubt will be highly valued by 

 all who take an interest in the gold industry. 



It must be remembered that the study of the Metallurgy of Gold, 

 as well as of every other metal, is based upon an accurate and exten- 

 sive knowledge of Chemistry, and that in the school curriculum of 

 the young metallurgist ample provision must be made for the training 

 in theoretical and practical Chemistry. A mere superficial knowledge 

 often proves in this subject disastrous, and teachers and students 

 alike of Metallurgy must pay special attention to accuracy and 

 exactitude of observation, because slightly altered conditions and 

 circumstances are frequently accompanied in metallurgical operations 

 by the gravest consequences. 



Finally, I mention a few points in connection with the Chemistry 

 of Plants and Vegetable Physiology, which particularly deserve the 

 attention of those who intend taking up original research in this direc- 

 tion. Here in South Africa we have a flora as rich and varied as is 

 found nowhere else in the world. The work of botanists has been 

 chiefly confined to systematic botany, and very little — almost nothing 

 — has been done in the chemical investigation of plants and plant- 

 products. The alcaloids, glycosides, resins, oils, and aromatic com- 

 pounds which exist in many South African plants still await discovery, 

 scientific investigation and practical application. These investiga- 

 tions are, however, by no means so simple; they require, in the first 

 place, a thorough training in Chemistry, particularly in Organic 

 Chemistry, then an equally thorough training in the analysis of organic 

 compounds and an extensive knowledge of the various methods in 

 use for the extraction of the active principles of plants, in short, the 

 research chemist has to pass through a lengthy and diflicult pre- 

 liminary training before he is competent to produce, in this branch, 

 work of scientific value. Notwithstanding this, I should recommend 

 this field of research particularly to South African students, because 

 they find here better und more plentiful material for their investiga- 

 tions than in Europe If it be true also for South Africa that it is 



