PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTE.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14344, 2 May 1912, Page 7

PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTE.

ADDRESS BY MR.A. M. WRIGHT

A meeting of tho Philosophical Institute took place last night nt Canterbury College, a gocd number being present. Tho Prcsidcut, Dr. Cockayne, pointed out that this was tho fifty-first session of tho Institute. Its fiftieth birthday, however, would bo held on the 30th of August, and it was important that a gathering of representatives from all parts should bo present on that occasion, i'o this end subscriptions would be necessary. Several had_jlready come in before any appeal had been" made, but a sum of htty guineas would be necessary. The secretary read a letter from Dr. Chilton emphasising the desirability of collecting spiders nnd other insects in New Zealand, before tho various species became extinct, and recommending members of tho Institute to make collections. Mr A. M. Wright proposed a hearty Voto of congratulation to the new president, Dr. Cockayne, who had doubly distinguished himself in obtaining the Hector medal and in being tho first scientist in tho British Empire in his own particular department to bo selected for admiesion to fellowship of the Royal Society. Tho motion was seconded by Dr. Eva**)a, and carried unanimously with acclamation. The retiring president, Mr A. M. Wright, then delivered an address on "The Chemist, and his Relations to tho Community." Tho address, which covered a very wido field, and touched on numerous and very different departments of life, was couched in such clear and concise terms that it was interesting and intelligible to tho merest layman, and was seasoned with a fund of wit and pungent satire which is raro in scientific discourses. * Mr Wright explained the relations of the chemist to publip health, municipal affairs, and industrial problems. Ho first of ail discussed tho adulteration of food, describing tho various forms it took. He, spoke without mincing mattcre .about the adulteration of.milk, that most necessary article of nutrition on which the life of infants and invalids depended; and commented on tho trivial penalty of 40s and inflicted by the law for an offence which was littlo short of criminal. He next referred to the artificial coloration of cream, and the artificial bleaching of flour by means of peroxide of nitrogen, and stated that tho nitrites present in flour so bleached wero of an injurious nature. Ho spoke scathingly of the exploitation of eminent authorities in the- booming of various well-known adulterated products. Ho next discussed the uso and misuse of chemical preservatives. There wero cases, such as that of the use of boracic acid in ham and bacon, where preservatives wero necessary, in other cases, as in tinned foods and milk, they wero cither unnecessary, or directly injurious. Patent medicines met with short shrift at Mr Weight's hands. Ho stated .roundly that not ono patent medicine on the market—and he knew tho formula*- of most of them—deserved its reputation. He assured his hearers that ono much-advertised remedy consisted of 96£ parts of water. A certain elixir had been ascertained to be a mixture of sulphate of iron and Epsom salts, which the speaker characterised as "an edifying mixture of faith and works." The remedy for this state of things, Mr Wright held, was the creation, by means of school education in the first olace, of a public opinion firmly opposed to quackery, and determined to class all. tamperings with the food of the community among criminal-offences. Why did we test and analyse our coal, and neglect the food wo ate? If chemical analysis of our food wore insisted on, there would be less inefficiency, less sickness, and less mortality in the community. The! ppeakfr next considered tho industrial problem of impure air, and the municipal problem of impure water, in eonnoct'on with which ho mentioned and; criticised the various methods ' of purification by aeration, exposure to licrht. and filtrat'on. He then dealt with the dispell of sewncte and of municipal waste. Tho question which numicipal'ties had to consider was, utilisation or destruction? Ashes could be utilised for making Portland cement, for various building operations, and in many other wnys. There wero untold us<es for old tins, food refuse- and gar-b-ice in general. These u-es it was for tho chemist to explain and direct, -,Tid tho chemist opposed utilisation to «_estm<*iinn in every case. CHemi-try in its application to roads, in the form of dust-T*reventers and rondbinde**s. to text'le ind'i'-tri-.s. such as'tho m*tn--f**eture of artificial silk. hors<*-'f>-.ir and bristles, to ga,«- and electric lisht--I**s*;. were t'»«*n touched upon. In con-clus-'on Mr Wrkht referred to the great it n turn I resources of New Zealand, and the failure of m**nuf">ctnpers. to mako i***-> of them simylv thrnuc.li their indifference to avpltcd science. By invokinc- the a*d of -x-ienee. method re-pl-uv-d rule «f thumb, and eff-ciency in-eff-c'encv. *-<-.*i'o even w**i--te became a so'irce of nroiit. Nea* Zealand at pre--i--*t was a wasteful o*-"*itry, because it "did not aPy iteplf with serene**, and enr-loy the chemist to help in utilising w\---te -*rf*-ducts, and turning them into predictive charnels. A henrty vote of thanks to Mr W* - i--Tit for hi** address was proposed and carried. sird a recommendation w-.-j made to »-.-c Council to hay© the ad- i dross iiubli.'-hed as scon as possible. j