PERSONAL. 
decision. The judgment delivered on that occasion represents one of the 
few judgments on a broad constitutional question which has been 
upheld unanimously by a full Bench of the High Court. 
Midst the exactions of his legal work, Mr. Piddington has found 
time for profitable recreation, and has lent his aid to various movements 
for national advancement. In 1916 he published a volume of Spanish 
Sketches, issued by the Oxford Press. They are delightful impressions 
of many historical cities of Spain. The same year he published a 
translation of Rovetta’s Romanticismo, under the title of Young Italy. 
For this work he received the thanks of the Italian Foreign Minister; 
the Prime Minister of Italy having accepted the dedication. Mr. 
Piddington’s association with the Institute of Science and Industry dates 
from its formation. He was appointed as one of the members of the 
Advisory Council, and took a leading part in the work of the Committee 
which was established by the original Conference in 1916, to draft a 
scheme for the organization of the Institute. He has continued to par- 
ticipate in the varied activities of the Institute with keen enthusiasm. 
“T am firmly convinced,” he said recently, “of the necessity and useful- 
ness of the Institute, and of the great career it is bound to have. Aus- 
tralia’s commerce is bound to develop, but the aid of science must be 
invoked if our industries are to expand and. develop to their full 
stature. In October, 1915, in their Report an New Industries, the 
Inter-State Commission expressed the opinion that “a Commonwealth 
Department, operating upon the problems of secondary as well as of 
primary production, might well he constituted, with a view to the 
systematic application of science to Australian industry.” 
Mr. McDonald, Chief Inspector of Agriculture of New South Wales, 
has been appointed a member of the New South Wales branch of the 
Seed Improvement Committee established by the Institute. 
Mr. W. B. Alexander, M.A., Keeper-in-Biology, of the Perth 
Museum, has been appointed Secretary of the Western Australian 
Committee of the Institute, vice Professor Tattersall, resigned. 
