PERSONAL. 
Personal. 
"MR. DAVID AVERY, MSc. 
David Avery, M.Se., whose photograph is reproduced in the frontis- 
piece of this number, was born in the Ballarat district of Victoria. In 
his boyhood he attended the Mount Pleasant State School, which at that. 
time numbered amongst its scholars a group of boys who afterwards 
individually became distinguished Victorian citizens. While attend- 
ing school his natural bent for science manifested itself in the winning 
of a scholarship in the Ballarat School of Mines, where he attended a 
class in chemistry under Professor A. Mica Smith. His early lean- 
ings towards science were, however, not allowed to interfere with his 
general education, and he afterwards won a Government Exhibition, as 
the result of which he entered Grenville College, Ballarat. 
Three years later, having matriculated with honours in classics 
and mathematics, he won a Resident Scholarship at Queen’s College, 
‘and entered the Melbourne University, taking the science course, with 
chemistry as chief subject. 
At the University his earlier successes were repeated during his 
undergraduate years, and in his final year he was awarded not only 
the Final Honours Scholarship, but also the Kernot Research Scholar- 
ship and the Wyselaskie Scholarship in Chemistry. He graduated 
B.Se. in the year 1892. 
' The two following years were spent in carrying on research work 
in the University: laboratories under the guidance of Professor Orme 
Masson. About this time he was appointed science tutor to Ormond, 
Queen’s, and Trinity Colleges, Owing to the happy facility with 
which he expresses himself, and to his power of imparting to others 
the knowledge he has acquired, he was very popular as a teacher. In 
the year 1894 he was admitted to the degree of Master of Science. 
On entering the University he went into residence at Queen’s Col- 
lege, where he remained for the whole of his academic career. His 
personal qualities soon won for him a leading position in the social 
life of his college and the University. He rowed in his college “ eight,” 
and played with his college “ eleven.” 
On leaving the University Mr. Avery, at the instance of Mr. Hans 
Trvine, took over the general management of a group of metallurgical 
works for the extraction of gold by the McArthur-Forrest cyanide pro- 
cess, his head-quarters being at the Black Horse Gold Mining Company 
at- Mt. Egerton, near Ballarat. He oceupied this responsible position 
for about two years. The sands under treatment were of low grade, 
but under Mr. Avery’s management the gold extraction process was 
carried on most successfully. 
In 1899 a department of chemistry was established at the Working 
_Men’s College (now the Melbourne Technical School), and Mr, Avery 
was appointed as head of the department. He devoted himself to 
his new work with energy and enthusiasm, and his efforts were rewarded 
with almost phenomenal success.. The growth of the department was 
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