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RESEARCH
At the University of Hong Kong, several new projects have been undertaken in addition to the work outlined in the last Annual Report.
Investigations are being made in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology on the early diagnosis of cancer of the cervix and uterus by means of the Papanicolaou Smear method, and an evaluation of the combined radiotherapeutic and surgical approach to carcinoma of the cervix is in progress. The treatment of eclampsia by means of sodium pentothal is also under investigation, and a series of over forty cases has shown a striking diminution in the mortality rate. In the Department of Chemistry researches are in progress on various organic chemical compounds.
A government subsidized Fisheries Research Unit was established in September to undertake marine biological research, with a view to improving the Colony's fisheries industry by placing it on a sound scientific basis. The keel of a research vessel designed for the Unit was laid in Hong Kong in November, and she will be in commission next year.
The official memoir of the Geology of Hong Kong and the New Territories was published during the year. Several detailed surveys were carried out in relation to the economic minerals present. Mapping preparation was also well under way to begin a geographical inquiry into the agricultural, forest and badland areas of the Colony.
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