SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
Similarly, numerous tests have been made by the Institute in Western 
Australia in co-operation with the Western Australian Government, and 
valuable assistance has already been rendered to the pottery and earthen- 
ware industries in that State. The first stage of the work has been 
completed, and a report is in course of preparation. 
3. Power Alcohol.—The investigations carried out by the Institute 
into this problem are of far-reaching importance. As the result of these 
investigations, a simple and effective method has been discovered for 
overcoming the difficulty of starting engines “from cold” on alcohol 
without the addition of ether or other material, a difficulty which has 
hitherto in other countries very largely prevented the more extended use 
of alcohol as a fuel. Demonstrations of the process have been given by 
the Institute before the Motor Traders Associations in Sydney, Ade- 
laide, and Brisbane, and have proved entirely successful. The suit- 
ability of various raw materials in Australia for distillation purposes 
has been fully investigated, and it is believed that if certain economic 
difficulties can be removed the industry will be started in Australia on 
a commercial basis as a direct result of the Institute’s work. 
4. Posidonia Fibre.—The question of the utilization of this marine 
tibre, of which there are very large deposits on the Australian coasts, 
has been thoroughly investigated. As a result, a method of increasing 
the strength and flexibility of the fibre has been devised by treatment with 
dilute mineral acids. The results are being followed up by Posidonia 
Fibres Limited. This company is carrying out the necessary altera- 
tion to its plant to allow for large scale experimental work on the acid 
treatment, and it is anticipated that valuable industrial results will 
follow. 
5. Mechanical Cotton Picker.—A considerable amount of work has 
been done by the special committee of experts in Brisbane. American 
patent specifications have been thoroughly examined, and exhaustive 
laboratory tests made. As a result, an experimental machine, working 
on a new principle, has been constructed, and will be given a field trial 
next season, : 
6. Engineering Standardization—The task of standardization has 
been’ tackled, and the Institute has already been successful -in securing 
agreement for standard specifications for (a) structural steel sections, 
(6) railway rails and fish plates, and (c) tramway rails and fish plates. 
The work already accomplished in this direction represents very large 
direct monetary gain to the Australian steel industry, and is also of 
great benefit to manufacturers and users of steel in Australia. 
The Institute has also secured the concurrence of the Engineering 
Societies of Australia to a scheme for the establishment of an Austra- 
lian Engineering Standards Association to undertake the work in a 
systematic and comprehensive manner, along lines similar to those 
adopted in the United States of America, Great Britain, and other 
countries. 
7. Miscellaneous.—Other experimental werk in connexion with 
secondary industries has been carried out in regard to substitutes for 
tin plate containers, and firms now using board containers have been 
materially assisted by the Institute’s investigations. Investigations on 
yeasts and bread-making have shown that the period of fermentation 
for making bread under trade conditions can be materially shortened. 
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