PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 17 



of Agriculture cannot now dispense with its aid, and a well 

 equipped laboratory and scientific staff is presided over by 

 our agricultural chemist, Mr. F. B. Guthrie, f.i.c, F.c.s., 

 who in addition to the ordinary routine work of analysing 

 soils, fertilisers, and agricultural products, reports the 

 following special investigations : the chemical examination 

 of different grasses cultivated with the special object of 

 determining any alteration of composition due to differences 

 in soil and climate ; the study of the effect upon the 

 retention of water in the soil at varying depths and methods 

 of soil treatment ; the effect of alkaline bore water on the 

 land ; investigations on the nature of different varieties 

 of grain, particularly in respect to their milling qualities 

 and the nature of the flour produced. 



In Eucalyptology, Mr. Henry G. Smith, f.c.s., of the 

 Technological Museum in a paper before this Society showed 

 that the elastic substance of the young shoots of certain 

 species of Eucalyptus and Angophora was caoutchouc. By 

 the action of light and air this rapidly changes into a white 

 powdery substance, the nature of which is at present 

 undetermined. The white glaucous appearance of the 

 young shoots of certain eucalypts was, at the same time, 

 shown to be due to the presence of a vegetable wax. The 

 phytochemical investigations of the pines of Australia, 

 carried out in conjunction with Mr. R. T. Baker, the 

 Curator, is now practically completed and will be published 

 during the present year. This work has now extended 

 over a period of ten years, and embraces practically the 

 whole of the pines of the continent, including those of 

 Tasmania. Several new facts in connection with the 

 Ooniferse have been brought to light. The sesquiterpene 

 alcohol, guaiol, has been isolated from the timber of the 

 Callitris, where it occurs together with a new phenol 

 (Oallitrol). It is probable that this latter substance is the 



B— May 5, 1909. 



