PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



SOUTH AFRICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 



ANNUAL ADDRESS TO THE MEMBERS 



OF THE 



SOUTH AFEICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 

 On the 8th of August, 1906. 



By the President, J. C. BEATTIE, D.Sc. 



ON SOME PHYSICAL PROBLEMS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



An address such as I propose to give you this evening requires in 

 the first place a short introduction to avoid, amongst other things, 

 a want of perspective. It is impossible in a short paper such as 

 this is to take up every physical, much less every scientific, problem 

 of interest to this country, and the choice of subject indicates only 

 the speaker's limited knowledge ; it does not mean that there are 

 not other branches of knowledge of absorbing interest scientifically 

 and economically, but rather that the predilection of the speaker is 

 to those he is more or less acquainted with. 



The title on the billet is too comprehensive even ; a not too wide 

 interpretation of it would bring in many problems in geology, and 

 naturally any such address might be expected to take into account 

 the problem of the standardisation of instruments in this country. 

 At present there is no place in South Africa which does the work of 

 a Eeichsanstalt or a national physical laboratory. The consideration 

 of this problem cannot be much longer deferred. It is, however, 

 one which is South African only in so far as South Africa feels the 

 needs of a modern civilisation. I hope at some later date to put 



