PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 17 
advances of enormous importance have been made in the 
treatment of wounds, in the knowledge of the means of 
spread of such diseases as typhus fever, cerebrospinal 
fever and bilharziasis, and in other directions. Of equal 
importance, though less directly connected with the saving 
of life, have been the discoveries made in chemistry, in 
engineering, and in many other fields. Though doubtless 
in the course of years, these various problems would have 
been solved, their solution has been precipitated, their 
erystallization from obscurity has been hastened, by the at- 
tendant requirements of war. Further, the need of scien- 
tific assistance is at last being realised by the community 
in general, and the closer co-ordination of science and in- 
dustry in our social life is being slowly brought about. 
The Housing Problem and the Public Health.—Ag a 
change, especially marked during the last year, has taken 
place in the housing accommodation of Sydney, a reference 
to it, as affecting the social welfare of the community, may 
be allowed from this chair. The matter might well re- 
ceive fuller consideration at the hands of our Public Health 
Section. The change to which reference is made consists 
in the introduction and rapid spread of the flat system. Its 
popularity may be referred to several causes, chief amongst 
which are the difficulties in obtaining domestic assistance, 
the scarcity and high price of dwelling-houses, and the in- 
crease in cost of suburban transit. These reasons for its 
adoption hardly concern us from the scientific aspect, and 
are quite legitimate, provided they are not counterbalanced 
by factors operating injuriously on the community as a 
whole. In this connection I would like to point out an 
aspect that, it seems to me, may have a very unfavourable 
effect upon the children of families living in flats. All 
are agreed, I think, that the family system is that best 
calculated, in the Anglo-Saxon race at least, to develop 
B—May 1, 1918, 
