18 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



by acid juices, a film of gold is left on the surface capable of 

 being burnished. This process can be carried on much more 

 quickly with nitric acid, but this would not probably have 

 been available to the workers of that period. The measure- 

 ment of standard lengths in terms of the wave lengths of 

 light is much more accurate than any other, and has recently 

 been adopted in this country to the extent of introducing 

 into the Standards office an instrument for the purpose of 

 such measurements. The number of wave lengths of red 

 cadmium light in the French metre has been found to be 

 1,553,163. 



GEOGRAPHY. 



The most notable geographical feat of the past year has 

 been the attainment of the North Pole by Commander Peary 

 on April 6th, 1909. It is a feat which has been attempted 

 by many and has cost many lives, but there seems little 

 doubt that it has at last been accomplished. The scientific 

 results of this successful journey are, perhaps, hardly worth 

 all the exertions that have been made towards it, but so long 

 as it was open to competition, many would undergo anything 

 to be the first to stand on the earth's axis. The rival claim 

 of Dr. Cook has not been generally admitted, and it would 

 be wise of any intending traveller to that point to take one or 

 two reliable witnesses with him. The South Pole is now the 

 chief object of attraction, and various expeditions are being 

 arranged for that region, so that we may, before long, be able 

 to chronicle the presence of a human being at both ends of 

 the earth. But in the midst of these exciting and adventurous 

 feats, we must not forget the very valuable scientific work 

 done by those members of Arctic and Antarctic expeditions 

 who do not reach the Poles, for it is they who have given us 

 what knowledge we possess of the Polar regions by patient 

 and steady work under great hardships and perils. Such 

 discoveries are the coal measures, 1,500 feet thick, found to 

 exist in lat. 85 degrees S., showing a very different state of 



