ees 
SS 
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
His absences from Australia have been rare. One of the longest 
was in 1901. A project had been mooted for an Indian Institute of 
Science. Dr. Masson visited India at the request of the Council in 
charge, and, in collaboration with Lt.-Colonel Clibborn, C.I-E., advised 
upon all aspects of what was a difficult problem. The Institute has 
now for many years been carrying out good work at Bangalore, in 
Mysore. 
In 1912, when Sir William Ramsay resigned his position in the 
University of London (University College), an invitation was given to 
Professor Masson to succeed him in what is, perhaps, the most famous 
Chair of Chemistry in the Empire. Fortunately for the University of 
Melbourne, Dr. Masson did not see his way to accept what must have 
been a very attractive offer. 
To the Professor’s general public work it is impossible in a short 
space to do justice. The briefest summary of his activities during the 
past ten years must suffice, and no special reference will be made to the 
various Government Commissions and Boards upon which he served. 
From 1911 to 1913 he was President of the Australasian Association 
for the Advancement of Science, and in that capacity was one of the 
leaders in organizing the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, which 
achieved such valuable scientific results under Sir Douglas Mawson’s 
direction. Dr. Masson was chairman of the committee which supported 
Mawson, and was throughout concerned with every detail of the project. 
During these same years the idea of inviting to Australia the British 
Association for the Advancement of Science took shape. The negotia- 
tions with the various Governments of the Commonwealth and the States, 
and with the Association leaders in England, were successfully carried 
through, and the meeting was held in the various capital cities in 
August, 1914. The conditions of those days are fresh in the memory of 
all. The meeting was probably one of the most successful attempts 
yet made to forward that growth of knowledge of one another which 
is so imperative a necessity between the constituent parts of the Empire. 
From first to last, Professor Masson, splendidly supported by his 
colleagues in all States, led the movement, and, as Chairman of the 
Executive Committee responsible for the required organization, his was 
the guiding hand throughout. 
The war, of course, brought new work to him. He became a con- 
sulting member of the Federal Munitions Committee; he took an active 
part in the work of the Universal Service League. But his chief labours 
began when the Prime Minister invited him to act as Chairman of the 
Committee appointed to advise the Government on the proposed founda- 
tion of an Institute of Science and Industry. The history of this 
Committee, under Dr. Masson’s guidance, and of others formed on its 
recommendation, of the broad basis designed for the permanent Institute, 
and of the great amount of preliminary scientific investigation carried 
out, is familiar to all interested in this admirable and most necessary 
development. 
Nor, in these days of rapid change in status of the chemical profes- 
sion, must one omit to mention the effort he has made, and is making, 
to place the profession in Australia on a sound footing. The new 
Australian Chemical Institute is very young, but it is flourishing and 
full of promise, and the profession will be under a great debt ere long 
to the leader who has been chiefly instrumental in organizing it. 
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