E.—&

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•known to the mining schools of New Zealand, and in the institutions visited that syllabus was generally in force. The text-book in use at Manchester in mineralogy was Butley's " Mineralogy." Beference works: Bauermann's "Mineralogy," Dana's Manual, and Fletcher's "Optical Indicatrix." For metallurgy: Bhead's or Boberts-Austen's reference works; Eissler's "Gold, Silver, and Lead"; Peter's "Copper-smelting"; Egleston's "Metallurgy of Gold, Silver, and Mercury"; Phillips's " Metallurgy " ; Mills's " Fuel " ; and current journals. For the laboratory : Bhead's " Exercises in Practical Metallurgy"; Sexton's " Quantitative Analysis." Beference works : Beringer's " Manual of Assaying " ; Kerl's " Assayer's Manual" ; Mitchell's " Assaying." In Glasgow, in addition to some of the above works in metallurgy, Sexton's " Fuel and Befractory Materials " ; Greenwood's " Metallurgy," also " Steel and Iron " ; Bose's " Metallurgy of Gold " ; and Macmillan's " Electro-Metallurgy " were in use. For the laboratory, in addition to the Manchester works, Brown's "Assaying of Gold, Silver, &c," and Arnold's "Steel-works Analysis" were in use. In Glasgow a course of eighty lectures is given upon mining—the first year's course dealing with the methods of mining as now practised in this and other countries, and the principles which underlie such methods—students being recommended to spend the summer vacations of their first and second years in underground work, so as to have a general knowledge of the subject previous to their third-year course. Notes and sketches made by students during these periods are required to be handed in for examination, accompanied by statements of their experiences signed by the mine-managers. Each student is required to qualify in ambulance-work. The mining text-books are Hughes's " Coal-mining," and Lo Neve Foster's "Ore and Stone Mining." In the mining and geological laboratory and drawing-office, the second year's course instruction is given in the methods of identifying minerals and rocks, both in hand specimens and under the microscope; preparation of the specimens for the microscope; examination of fossils; use of simple surveying instruments for land-surveying and geological work ; levelling and plotting; geological mapping and section-drawing. A few easy examples of mine-surveying are plotted with the protractor, tc give students an idea of the dispositions of mine-workings on veins and beds. Full-day excursions are made, in addition to Saturday afternoon excursions, to examine the phenomena presented by aqueous, igneous, and metamorphic rock-masses. In the third year's course three months is occupied in machine drawing and structural design, laboratory-work, field-work, and excursions to mines ; four months in drawing-office work in mine-surveying; and the summer months in mine-surveying, with whole-day excursions. Textbook: Brough's "Mine-surveying." The geology and mineralogy section embraces fifty lectures, divided into two portions—the first on the general principles of stratigraphical geology ; in the second attention is devoted more particularly to the mineralogical portion, and to the practical application of geology to mining and engineering. Works recommended are as follows: Geikie's "Class-book of Geology"; Cole's " Aids to Practical Geology " ; Judd's "Volcanoes " ; Jukes-Browne's handbooks of geology. In all cases suitable specimens are required to be provided for class instruction in geology and mineralogy. Coal-mining. —Special classes are arranged by the Lancashire and Derbyshire and other County Councils in coal-mining, and considerable advantage of the opportunities offered is taken by the miners of the districts. The Derbyshire scheme was an experimental one, designed to interest as large a body of miners as possible, and to endeavour to arouse a desire for more systematic study. The lectures first given were of a popular nature, illustrated by experiments on lantern-slides, followed by a class, the members of which worked papers during the week, which were sent by post to the lecturer, and then discussed at the class itself. Although in some districts the lectures and classes were only moderately attended, in others the numbers were far beyond expectations ; the men walking long distances to attend, and doing this regularly through the worst part of the winter. Examinations were held at the end of the course, and certificates granted to a large number of miners.

SECTION VI.—COMMEBCIAL EDUCATION. At the present time the importance of commercial education is being widely recognised by Great Britain, and every effort is now being made to provide instruction such as will compare favourably with the commercial schools of France and Germany. Mr. Sidney Webb (who has recently visited this colony), in his Society of Arts speech upon commercial education, said that "It was the ingrained belief of the English business-man that there is not, and never can be, any commercial education comparable with that which a man picks up in the actual business of a daily life. The most intelligent merchant never dreams of seeking for his son any special commercial education: he either sends him to Oxford or pitches him straight into his office. During the last ten years in particular this lack of commercial education in England, and the failure of business-men to appreciate the need for it, had been a matter of serious concern to those interested in technical education." Mr. Webb divides commercial education into three sections : " First, the education of the youth before he enters business-life ; second, the provision of opportunities of evening instruction for the young clerk ; and third, but perhaps most important of all, there is what may be called higher commercial education, required by the officer of the commercial army, if not by every ambitious member of the rank and file." With reference to the first section, would it not be possible to make a distinction in our secondary schools of scholars in the upper forms, say, over the age of fourteen—the one section