SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
SOS oe 
In Great Britain increased attention is being given to the “ power- 
aleohol” problem. The Imperial Motor Transport Council has estab- 
lished an Empire Motor Fuels Committee, with the following terms of 
reference:—(1) To take immediate steps to encourage and develop the 
production and utilization of additional motor fuel supplies, or raw 
‘materials therefor, in all parts of the Empire, and more particularly to 
insure increasing shipments of motor fuels to Great Britain, and, so far’ 
as may be necessary, to the Empire overseas. (2) To co-operate with 
any Government, or incorporated or unincorporated body of persons, in 
order to further the object set forth in (1) hereof. (8) To offer for 
the purposes in view bonuses or other rewards, and to incur such expen- 
diture as may be desirable, all such expenditure being subject to the 
approval of the council. 
.. The British Fuel Research Board has issued a memorandum regard- 
ing the use of alcohol as fuel. After referring to its great suitability 
for certain classes of motor vehicles, Sir F rederick Nathan, a member 
of the Board, states that quantities are available in the Dominions, 
_ where the cost of production is less, and where it is possible to grow 
vegetable substances containing the starch or sugar necessary for power-* 
alcohol. ‘The matter was being investigated in various Dominions and 
Colonies. Molasses were very suitable as a raw material. Waste 
material would probably have to be utilized for distillation purposes 
-owing to the commercial value of anything used for foodstuffs. The 
memorandum points out that in tropical portions of the Empire there 
are vast quantities of rapidly-growing vegetation suitable for the fuel, 
and research work has been initiated with the object of treating such 
vegetation cheaply. | 
“SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN NEW ZEALAND. 
Considerable interest is being shown in scientific circles in New 
Zealand in the work of the Institute of Science and Industry, and 
Professor T. Harvey Johnston, while on his way to the United States of 
America, was asked to lecture upon the organization and scope of the 
activities which the Institute has established. At one meeting of 
- scientists only. he explained the nature of the work which the Prickly — 
Pear Board has embarked upon, and his object in visiting America; 
and on another oceasion he explained the functions of the Institute . 
generally before a meeting of members of both Houses of Parliament. 
Professor Johnston, in a letter to a friend in Melbourne, commented __ 
upon the poor salaries paid to scientific men in New Zealand, and stated 
that in the course of his lectures and personal discussions he emphasized 
the point that while the inducements offered were poor, 1t was extremely 
unlikely that good work would be performed, and that only indifferently 
trained men, or men of little or no standing, would in future offer their 
services. . ; 
' ° 
WATER HYACINTH IN CALIFORNIA. 
: Investigation by the Californian Department of Agriculture has 
disclosed an infestation in one or two localities of the dreaded water - 
hyacinth. Immediate action is therefore being taken towards its eradi- 
cation, for it is thought that “ California can better afford to expend a 
million dollars now in eradicating the thing than to have to put up with 
454 
