HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1954
The Department of Chemistry carried out research into the mechanism of chemical reactions, on chemical changes allied to those made use of in the manufacture of plastics, on methods of extracting active principles from plants, and on the chemistry of various plants of the Colony and other parts of South East Asia which have reputed medicinal or other value. Various dis- coveries which have been made in the Department in these fields of work have recently been published in scientific journals in Great Britain.
The Fisheries Research Unit began a hydrological survey of territorial waters in March, 1954. The Unit is also making precise biological studies of the Golden Thread (Nemipterus virgatus) and Lizard-Fish (Saurida Tumbil), two marine fishes of economic importance to the Colony, and investigating the fresh-water mullets. Work on the mullets forms part of a general survey of the chemical and biological characteristics and pro- ductivity of the New Territories fish ponds. The preliminary results of some of these investigations appeared in the Hong Kong University Fisheries Journal, No. 1, published by the Hong Kong Univer- sity Press in December, 1954. This Journal carries on, under another name, the Journal of the Hong Kong Fisheries Research Station which was started in 1940, ceased during the Pacific War, and made an appearance post-war in the single issue of 1949. Other research in progress in the Department of Biology includes investigations into the marine algae of Hong Kong, the sensory nerve-endings of Mud-Skippers (Perioph- thalmus) and the pituitary bodies of amphibia.
In the Department of Medicine, work has continued on the pathogenesis and incidence of disease of the liver
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