PACIFIC SCIENCE CONGRESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3823, 21 June 1927, Page 16

PACIFIC SCIENCE CONGRESS.

PROFESSOR AND MRS BENSON’S IMPRESSIONS. ADDRESSES BEFORE OTAGO INSTITUTE. On Tuesday in the biology lecture room of the Otago Museum, Professor and Mrs Benson gave interesting addresses on the third Pan-Pacific Science Congress, which was held in Tokib in November of last year.

Professor Benson, in his opening remarks, recounted the circumstances of the founding of the Congress and gave an outline of its first meeting in Hawaii and of its second meeting, which was held in Australia. A deep impression was created at the meeting in Australia by the action of the Japanese Government in the midst of the great earthquake disaster in issuing an invitation for the holding of the third congress i n Tokio. The overseas delegates, who numbered 200, were drawn from Great Britain, France, America. Canada, Hawaii, Russia Eastern Siberia, China, Malaya, Java, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines. They were received with the utmost hospitality and were the guests of the Government during the six weeks of their stay in Japan. The perfection of the organisation for their reception, for their transport on the various excursions; and for the carrying out of the work of the Congress made a very deep impression. The astoni-i'-ngly high state of development of i’-re and applied science, •nd the excel!c ..e of the provision for

scientific education and research, which was evident in all branches of scientificwork called for unbounded admiration. It was evidently the desire of the Japanese people, he said, that their guests should gain as comprehensive a view as possible within the limited time at their disposal of all phases of Japanese life, apart from the strictly scientific and educational interests of the Congress. The various excursions, the public and private hospitality seemed designed to show the best of scenic beauty, religion, art, history and industry, and to give them an insight, into a remarkably varied section of social life from the humbler homes to . the palaces themselves. Moreover, the international aspect of the. gathering was emphasised as much as the humbly scientific The Congress, he continued, was extremely fortunate in its president. Dr Joyi Sakurai, who headed the delegation to the. Australian congress, and who, as a distinguished chemist, president of the Imperial Academy and National Research Council, and a very prominent executive member of the House of. Peers and Privy Council of Japan, wielded a great influence which I was directed with passionate devotion to the cause of international harmony. In this he was supported by the president of the House of Peers, Prince Tokungawa, who was also the president of the Japanese branch of the' League of Nations’ Union. Ho was the father of the Consul-general for Australia and New Zealand. The work of tho. congress wag devoted to the consideration of papers grouped around a number of subjects of mutual interest, and nearly' 400 papers, comprising a vast amount of research work, were presented. The oceanographical work dealt with a I wide range of topics, the form of the ocean, sea temperature, floor conditions I affecting tides and ocean currents, the’

effect of these again on chemical content of sea water, and the minute floating plants and animals which were the food of the larger organisations, and other important ones affecting fisheries. The agricultural and botanical section considered in particular the problems of the breeding of the most hardy and nutritive types of rice, of citrus fruits, afforestation, and plant quarantine. A great deal of attention was paid to aspects of entomology as it affected adversely or otherwise the yield of various crops. Consideration' was given to the diseases of stock, such as rinderpest. Tho section of hygiene discussed especially’ the control of typhus, dysentery, and hookworm disease, and was interested also in the results of the goitre investigations that had been carried on within the Otago University. The physicists discussed in particular the problems of transmission of wireless waves, atmospheric electricity, and magnetic conditions in the Pacific region. The meteorologists were -interested in tho conditions determining various types of weather in Eastern Asia, and progress towards a scientific basis for seasonal forecasting—for example, for estimating a' year in advance the probable rainfall during the growing season. The discussion of this was led by the meteorologists of the Malay Archipelago. The seismologists were very busy, and most impressive - accounts were given of the investigation and cause of the great Japanese earthquake, by which was brought about nearly 150,000 deaths, the burning of 560,000 houses, and materialdamage to. the value of £275,000,000. 1 The geological section had a particularly full programme. It devoted must attention to the distribution of the economic minerals around the Pacific, the structure of the lands in which they occurred which

brought out a wealth of new information concerning Siberia, China, Japan, and the Philippines. Remarkable discoveries in China were recorded in this connection. The anthropologists gave special attention to the Ainu, that very primitive aboriginal race of Northern Japan, but some consideration was also paid to the v socalled “pigmy” race of New -luinea, and some rem kable archaeological discoveries in the Philippines. At the conclusion of the session a new organisation, the Pacific Science Association, was inaugurated with a definite constitution 4ind a council consisting of representatives from the national scientific bodies of 12 countries around the Pacific, and to it was entrusted the control of the work of the various research committees set up by the congress. Thus a strong international scientific organisation had been established, with much work to carry on until the next meeting of the association, which would be in Java in 1929. Mrs Benson gave an account of Japanese investigations in nutrition. There was a great lack in the ordinarv diet of the peasant of all animal food, other than fish. Meat, milk, butter, were scarcely used and fruit and eggs but little As a result the food compared with normal diets was very deficient in vitamines and the more valuable proteins. Until recently the defici ency had been counter-balanced by the i se of unpolished rise, in the outer coating, of which there was sufficient to provide most of the needful elements in the food. Within the last 30 years, however, the national taste has changed, and polished rice -vas used everywhere in place of the unpalatable unpolished grain. The result had been a very serious spread of deficiency diseases, something akin to beri-beri with skin troubles, bad teeth, and a tendency *o tuberculosis. She described the experimental work now tn' progress leading to the use under palatable conditions of partially polished rice and attempts to add the necessary food elements in combinations of fish and bean, and the encouragement of the use of meat and the concomitant imCrovement of pasturages. She concluded y exhibiting a beautiful series of coloured lantern slides illustrating places visited and features of Japanese life studied bv the delegates to the congress. Tlie lecturers were accorded hearty votes of thanks for their interesting lectures.