2i INAUGUKAL ADDRESS. 



strange motions which we have recently discovered are concenied witli 

 the working of the great machine, and with our very lives upon the 

 earth. 



Such, then, are some of the conclusions to which the study of 

 radio-activity leads us. No student of science woud deny their interest 

 and importance, and I am sure that you will understand why I have 

 wished to attempt their exposition. I trust that you will not think 

 it inapposite if now in the short time remaining to me I ask you to 

 turn your thoughts in a different direction. The discussion of any 

 pure scientific research before an Australasian audience like this 

 naturally brings forward the question as to how far Australasians are 

 themselves justified in spending their time and money on such work. 

 Or, is there any other research work which they should attempt in 

 preference? And, again, if there is work which should be done, who 

 i;^ to do it? To all these questions I do not propose to attempt a 

 full answer. But it seems to me that certain of them call for a very 

 serious consideration at this present time, and, therefore, that as 

 President of an Association for the Advancement of Science I ought 

 to discuss them. For I am addressing not only those who are directly 

 engaged or interested in scientific work, nor only our kind Queensland 

 hosts who honour and delight us with their presence this evening, but 

 also all Australasians who care to listen. 



First, then, as regards the study of pure science, the one all- 

 important thing to remember is that pure science lies at the root of 

 ail applied science. The former throws up and nourishes the stems 

 which bear the latter as their fruit. It is said that when an Indian 

 durbar is to be held in some uncultivated spot the natives create in a 

 single night the semblance of an established garden with its trees and 

 shrubs, beds of bright annuals and winding paths. But it is only the 

 garden of a day ; even the flowers have been cut from plants grown on 

 other soil, and are but stuck in the ground; there is no root and no 

 power to grow. Just so, if we are content in this country to import 

 always the flowers of European or American thought, and to use them 

 in the establishment of our industries and to grow nothing of our 

 ovm, then we must continually be replenishing our ideas from abroad 

 in order to maintain our position. That is neither an honourable nor 

 an economical arrangement. We must ourselves encourage the spirit 

 of pure lesearch amongst our own peoples, and provide opportunities- 

 for research within our own borders, if the science of our crafts and 

 industries is to have life and power to grow. 



There is another aspect of the question which I may illustrate 

 from our own experience. In the history of every new country there- 



