authorities certainly do their best to make the library available for scientific workers, but any one who has occasion to use it knows that it is of little benefit. This the Board of Governors fully realized some time ago, and an offer was made by them to the Government, which was accepted, to hand over the library as a nucleus of a real scientific library as soon as a proper building was erected and a qualified librarian appointed. Nothing has been done as yet—with a war raging it was not to be expected—but we live in hope. With the power of exchange possessed by the New Zealand Institute through its Transactions virtually all the publications of every scientific society throughout the world could be acquired. But this would not be enough, for equally important are the many scientific journals which can only be acquired by purchase. Then there is the host of books, constantly appearing, essential for scientific progress. Obviously, the maintenance of such a library is far beyond the income of the Institute, were that quadrupled. But the Institute could supply the lion's share of the acquisitions. Much also could be done by the various scientific Departments of the Government, whose libraries should also be added to this central library. I do not know of anything that is so greatly needed for scientific research as such a library, and if it were only of one-half the value to the nation which I am claiming for it this evening no money should be less grudged by the people, and no money would be better invested. As it is, every serious worker must at his own expense greatly supplement the scanty literature available; this has been done for years willingly, and it will continue to be done, but it does not seem to me an altogether creditable state of affairs. This fundamental question of an adequate scientific library leads me at once to other aspirations of the New Zealand Institute—that body of scientific folk, and believers in science, who are banded together to add something to human knowledge and to advance thereby the interests of this glorious country of which they are citizens. Next to provision for the library, the Institute desires recognition by the people of New Zealand as a body devoted entirely to their interests, both material and intellectual—a body ready at any time to advise the Government on scientific matters, and to assist to the utmost in any national service for which science is required. In the early days of the Institute most of the scientific workers were amateurs. These, it is true, were endowed with the holy fire of enthusiasm, but had their limitations nevertheless. At the present time highly trained men—not holders of degrees merely, but men trained by years of experience in research—most of them New Zealand born—are fully competent to undertake almost any scientific investigation. To one like myself, growing old, it is a joy to see how many capable young men belonging to our Institute have come to the front of recent years. Before dealing specifically with certain branches of research which I think might well be undertaken by members of the Institute, or others in this country who ought to be members, I must say something regarding the separation of science into the two classes, “pure” and “applied,” as they are called, the former at best merely tolerated by the public, who value a scientific discovery only if it has an evident practical bearing. This state of mind would certainly kill all advance. If carried out for a sufficient time throughout the world civilization would not merely remain at a standstill, but deterioration would rapidly set in. The purely scientific must come first, and the practical, without any special coddling by the State, will assuredly follow. The cure of an infectious disease is only the