“BACK-ROOM” BOYS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 69, Issue 265, 22 August 1949, Page 2

“BACK-ROOM” BOYS

Tribute' to Chemists in Dominion WORK OF GREAT VALUE TO COMMUNITY Peace-time “back-room boys” was the description given the modern laboratory chemists by Mr S. G. Brooker, M.Cc., N.Z.1.C., in the course of a broadcast address last night oh chemistry in the Dominion. He said chemists were doing work of great value in the country in developing its material resources and helping to improve the welfare of the people. .

“Chemical work in the Dominion has been of value out of all proportion to its cost,” he said. “The public knows little of the work of these qualified men and women. Perhaps as they have produced no atomic bomb they receive correspondingly little publicity.” Relating .some of the. success of research chemists, he said that research into bush sickness which was causing the wasting of stock had been worth several millions of pounds to farmers, but the actual research had cent the country less than £20,000. A .few thousands spent in research into fish liver oils had led to an industry producing vitamin products of an annual value of between £300,000 and £400,000.

Important Tasks “The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research is easily the largest employer of chemists in the Dominion, and in the Hon. T. H. McCombs, Minister in Charge, it has a Parliamentary head who is himself an Honours graduate in chemistry and a qualified member of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry,” said Mr Brooker. “An important task of these chemists is the examination of foodstuffs to see if they conform to the standards of purity and wholesomeness laid down by the Health Department. There are also laboratories devoted to special subjects such.as the survey of the coal resources of New Zealand, paint, petroleum products, metals, insecticides and so on. In the Fats Research Laboratory, for instance/ much work has been done on fish liver oils; and the chemical composition of the fat of butter is being investigated. “At the Dairy Research Institute, Palmerston Noi'th, on the other hand, they are more - concerned with butter as a whole. Here it has been found that email amounts of metallic copper, which may easily come from the dairy equipment can promote staleness and off-flavours in butter. Less than one thousandth of an ounce of copper in a 561 b box of butter, is sufficient to cause trouble; but the chemists have devised methods orf detecting these minute quantities; methods that are regularly employed at the grading stores to test our export butter.

Effect of Hormones “Other research institutes, largely staffed by chemistsy are working on wool, animal nutrition, soils, wheat, leather, ceramics and pottery,” continued Mr Brooker. “The Department of Agriculture is a large employer of chemists investigating many subjects, one of which is the effect of hormones —chemical substances produced and circulating in the animal body— on the actual let-down of milk by the dairy cow. This work has already yielded some valuable results.

“In these peace-time ‘back-room boys’ we have a funcl of technical knowledge and skill which should be of great value to this country,” concluded Mr Brooker. “With a wider understanding of this knowledge by the- general public, and a greater appreciation of its value by those in a position to make use of it, chemistry could make an even greater contribution to the prosperous future of our Dominion.”