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RESEARCH
papers were published by the Department in learned journals in various parts of the world.
Members of the Department of Modern Languages continued their research into problems of 'pidginization' and 'creolization' in Asia. Papers were published on the Portuguese dialects of Hong Kong and Macau and on the exotic vocabulary of China Coast Pidgin.
Present projects in the Department of History include work on the history of Hong Kong and the New Territories; problems of communication between the English East India Company and Chinese officials at Canton in the early nineteenth century; British policy in China, 1894-1902; the history of Chinese relations with Yunnan during the T'ang period and the ethnic problems connected with the state of Nanchao; and the history of south-east Asia since 1870.)
The mineral resources of Hong Kong continued to be the subject of research by the Department of Geography and Geology. Special attention was given to magnetite, wolframite and clay, and to geological mapping and the petrography of granites, porphyries and volcanics. Industrial and agricultural land-use surveys were conducted in Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin, Tai Po and the eastern extremities of the New Territories.
The Department of Mathematics is carrying out research in Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics. In the Statistics Unit the computation of a trade index number series was completed for the planned period, and the unit value of quantum indices for imports and exports, together with a terms of trade series, were published for the period 1953-9. Consultative services continued to be provided by the Unit, of which two major examples are the Census Pilot Study of October 1960 and the Tourist Survey which is in preparation.
In the Department of Botany research continues on the life history and cytology of local seaweeds, and a paper was presented on certain aspects of this work at the 10th Pacific Science Congress. Work continues on the carbohydrate metabolism of Narcissus leaves. During the year research was initiated in various branches of mycology. These include a study of the Phycomycetous flora of the soils of Hong Kong; ecological studies of the activity of soil fungi and a long-term survey of the fungal flora of Hong Kong,