June 2, 192 1] 



NATURE 



441 



faunas and floras of New Zealand were then outlined 

 and various views as to the existence of a land con- 

 nection between New Zealand, Antarctica, Australia, 

 and Malaysia were reviewed. The latter portion of 

 the address dealt with igneous rocks from Cretaceous 

 to more recent times and with the later orogenic 

 movements and resultant physiographic features. In 

 conclusion, Prof. Benson appealed for detailed inves- 

 tigations in New Zealand in all branches of- geology. 



Section D (Biology). — The president, Prof. A. J. 

 Ewart, gave a summary of the work done in botany 

 and geology during the war period, and pointed out 

 that, large as it was, these sciences were not stimu- 

 lated by war activity, as chemistry and physics were. 

 With the increased productive activity now necessary 

 to replace the waste of war, botany and geology 

 would resume their original importance as the 

 primary sciences connected with productive activity. 



Section E (Geography and History).- — " Geographical 

 Problems of To-day and the Status of Geography in 

 Science " was the subject of the presidential address 

 delivered by Sir Douglas Mawson. He referred to the 

 geographical changes brought about by the war. The 

 war had put a temporary brake on geographic ex- 

 ploration and curtailed the study of geography at the 

 universities, but it had been a great stimulus to map- 

 making. Three recent events, each of which marked 

 a stage in the geographical development of Australia, 

 were the completion of the transcontinental railway, 

 the first aerial link with Europe established by Sir 

 Ross Smith, and the founding of an associate pro- 

 fessorship in geography at Sydney University. It 

 was gratifying to record the beginning of what might 

 confidently be expected to be a more general recogni- 

 tion of geography as a definite science subject in 

 Australasian universities. Such a movement would 

 be greatly advanced by the existence of a vigorous 

 geographical organisation in Australia. There was an 

 unrivalled field for geographical inquiry in the 

 Commonwealth, and under the stimulus of modern 

 movement great things were to be expected. Even 

 the coast-line of Australia was as yet only partly 

 charted. Now that the Commonwealth had instituted 

 its own Navy it had need also of organising an 

 efficient hydrographic service to cope with this under- 

 taking. In this a beginning had already been made, 

 but to do justice to the Melanesian dependencies as 

 well an extensive and well-founded organisation was 

 needed. Fields for general exploration included parts of 

 central and north-western Australia, Papua, and those 

 territories for which Australia held mandates. Good 

 geographical research could also be undertaken any- 

 where in Australia if investigators selected a definite 

 area and worked it out in complete geographical 

 detail. 



Section F (Ethnology and Anthropology). — "Anthro- 

 pology and the Government of Subject Races " was 

 the title of the presidential address delivered by Mr. 

 Justice Murray, Lieutenant-Governor of Papua. He 

 pointed out that there were two methods of governing 

 native races : (i) to abolish all native customs and 

 institutions and introduce European substitutes, 

 or (2) to use as an instrument of good govern- 

 ment such customs as appeared to be useful, or 

 even harmless. Anthropology was of service only 

 with the latter, the "indirect" method, favoured by 

 the British. Among savage races the different depart- 

 ments of thought and action were not clearly distin- 

 guished, as with us, and this must be borne in mind 

 when dealing with them. Anthropology had so far 

 not played an important part in administration. In 

 the future, however, it was likely to become of the 

 greatest help, either through the appointment of 

 specialists or by encouraging the study among Govem- 

 NO. 2692, VOL. 107] 



ment officers. The capacity of " thinking black, 

 or brown " required more sympathy and insight 

 than the average man possessed, but it was 

 very necessary, for there was always danger 

 that natives would misconstrue some policy. Ihe 

 best remedy was the study of anthropology. 

 It was partly to encourage this study among 

 officers, and partly to assist the Government more 

 directly, that arrangements were being made for the 

 appointment of an officer as Government Anthropo- 

 logist. 



Section G (Social and Statistical Science). — Mr. 

 G. H. Knibbs, Commonwealth Statistician, selected 

 as the subject of his presidential address "World and 

 Empire Development." Mr. Knibbs pointed out that 

 the huge destruction of material wealth and the world- 

 wide dislocation of economic relations had accentuated 

 the importance of obtaining systematised statistics. 

 This was recognised in the endeavour to establish a 

 statistical branch for the League of Nations, as welt 

 as the International Institute of Statistics at The 

 Hague and the International Institute of Agriculture 

 at Rome. The rate of growth in the population of 

 the white races which had characterised the last cen- 

 tury was about i per cent, per annum, so that the 

 population doubled itself in slightly under seventy 

 years. Such a rate could not possibly continue, be- 

 cause of the limitations of food- and water-supply. 

 Various materials, especially aluminium, were also 

 being used up at a rate which was increasing more 

 rapidly even than the population. Statesmen must 

 perforce take account in the widest possible way of 

 the rates of development and of exhaustion of sup- 

 plies. The British Empire Trade Commission which 

 visited Australia in 19 13 realised that British business 

 interests necessitated Imperial statistics, and it 

 recommended a conference of the statisticians of the 

 Empire. The conference recommended the establish- 

 ment of a British Empire Bureau of Statistics, incor- 

 porated by Royal charter, the Prime Minister of the 

 United Kingdom to be president in his capacity as 

 ex-officio president of the Imperial Conference. 

 The general aim was to facilitate the analysis of the 

 drift of the past and to forecast the future position 

 of the Empire. The falling-off of productive effi- 

 ciency in Australia was an ominous fact for a young 

 nation possessed of a valuable heritage and needing 

 population for its development. 



Section H (Engineering and Architecture). — In his 

 presidential address on "The Present System of 

 Education of Engineers and Architects " Mr. M. E. 

 Kernot found grave faults in the education and train- 

 ing of men who were entering the profession. Experi- 

 ence with men who commenced at practical work and 

 got into a groove often showed how much they might 

 have done had they had the advantage of university 

 training. With the system of articles results were also 

 very variable ; pupils who had completed their training 

 in this way frequently showed themselves incapable of 

 any design or construction work. The best hope for 

 improvement in professional education lay in assur- 

 ing university training to those fitted for it. En- 

 gineers recognised, too, that the community would be 

 better served if more were made of the workman's 

 brains and less of his muscle. The rough-and-ready 

 estimating now in vogue should give place to scientific 

 calculation. 



Section I (Sanitary Science and Hygiene). — ^Taking 

 as the subject of his presidential address "Accuracy 

 in Medicine," Dr. J. H. L. Cumpston stated that 

 two things were urgently necessary : (i) the educa- 

 tion of the public to a proper conception of the 

 need for accurate methods in medical diagnosis 

 and treatment, and (2) the provision, within 



