PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 17 



It will, I think, be admitted that this is not a very long 

 list, considering the great importance of the science in our 

 manufacturing and industrial life. Chemistry is hardly 

 represented even amongst the few industries which we 

 possess, and which in other countries are carried on with 

 chemical assistance. At the same time this state of things 

 cannot be expected to continue indefinitely. In proportion 

 as our existing industries become more robust and as new 

 ones are established, the need for the advice and co-oper- 

 ation of properly trained chemists will increase; indeed I 

 am convinced that in proportion as the value of chemical 

 assistance is recognised in those industries which involve 

 chemical principles, (and these are very numerous) so will 

 these industries flourish. 



The Question of Qualification. 



At the present time the number of those who make their 

 livelihood by chemical or analytical work is limited, and the 

 disadvantages under which they labour concern so small a 

 class that they are perhaps hardly worth the serious con- 

 sideration of the community. These disadvantages do 

 however prevail, and their existence will be more keenly 

 felt, and more difficult to remedy when the times come in 

 which the growth of manufacturing industries, the increas- 

 ing public interest in matters of public health and of edu- 

 cation will create a demand for a larger body of men quali- 

 fied for chemical work. The most serious disadvantage 

 under which we work, and it is one that has equally serious 

 consequences for the public, is the absence of any recognized 

 chemical qualification. It will never be possible to prevent 

 unqualified individuals from practising any more than it is 

 possible to prevent unqualified men practising the profes- 

 sions of medicine or dentistry, but it should at least be 

 possible for those who employ chemists to be able to insist 

 upon the attainment of some standard of proficiency which 



B— May 4, If 04. 



