E.—7

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grant from the Government makes us hope that by the time the next report is written the new buildings will be complete. From inspection of the plans, the Board is satisfied that the proposed buildings will meet practically all the wants of the students for many years to come. In particular, the provision of rooms which will enable students to do their reading on the University premises will meet a long-felt want. The proposed new class-rooms also are urgently required, for the classes in English still have to be held in the Training College, an unsatisfactory though temporary expedient. Athletics. This year the most important of the competitions that are held at Easter by the four University colleges has been won by the representatives of Otago University. The football club was far more successful than in. the preceding year, and the hockey club continues to maintain its pre-eminence. The boxing club is still a live institution. The tennis-courts give an opportunity for exercise to many students who would otherwise neglect their physical development. The ladies' hockey club is enthusiastic, and takes part in the annual competitions. Conference. At the invitation of the Senate, representatives of the Board attended a conference with representatives of the other Professorial Boards in Wellington. The report of the conference made several recommendations of a far-reaching nature in regard to the curriculum for the Bachelor's degrees. The Senate has not yet embodied any of these in the statutes. This will probably be done at the next meeting of the Senate, and the effect on attendance at University classes, if any, wiR not be felt until the 1912 session. The recommendations made by the conference were not of such a nature as to affect the staffing of the University Colleges. P. Marshall, Chairman of the Professorial Board.

The Medical School.—Report of the Director (Professor J. H. Scott, M.D., M.R.C.S.). There are 109 students attending medical classes during the present session. This shows an increase on anyprevious year, and is a satisfactory proof of the estimation in which the school is held throughout the Dominion. The degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery were conferred on eleven candidates at the last meeting of the Senate of the University of New Zealand. Most of these are now engaged as resident surgeons in the larger hospitals of the Dominion. The travelling Medical Scholarship granted by the University of New Zealand was awarded to Dr. W. G. Johnston, who is at present-acting as pathologist to the Auckland Hospital. He intends going to England next year to prosecute his studies. The Middlesex Hospital Scholarship was also won by Dr. Johnston. Dr. M. H. Watt, who won those scholarships in 1910, went Home a few months ago, and is now in attendance at the Middlesex Hospital. The scholar for 1909, Dr. T. W. J. Johnson, will soon return to New Zealand. When in London lately I inquired as to his progress from the Dean of the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, anil lie expressed himself as thoroughly satisfied with the way in which Dr. Johnson had discharged his duties as senior Resident Medical Officer. The school suffered a serious loss last year through the death of Dr. Blomfield, Lecturer on Materia Medica. During the years in which he held the appointment he had proved himself an able and conscientious teacher, and his place is difficult to fill. Dr. Frank Fitohett, of Dunedin, was appointed to the vacant position. He conducted the class last summer. During the summer a post-graduate school was inaugurated. Hitherto all our efforts have been devoted to the training of undergraduates, but it was felt that much good would result from the giving of more advanced courses to meet those already practising their profession. It is intended that these shall be strictly practical classes, and it is expected that they will prove of great use to medical practitioners who wish to acquaint themselves with the more recent advances in their profession. It is proposed to hold these post-graduate courses every summer on such subjects as pathology, bacteriology, radiology, diseases of the eye, and general medicine and surgery. These classes are evidently appreciated by the profession, and the attendance last year was considered satisfactory. I regard this new departure as of great value not only to the school, but also to the profession at large. The large classes now usual are with difficulty accommodated in the small laboratories. Teaching becomes more and more irksome each session. Last summer, for example, it was found necessary to divide the practical histology class and hold it in two rooms. These certainly were on the same floor, but this winter the class of practical physiology has also to be subdivided, and the two rooms in which it is held are on different floors. This awkward arrangement not only increases the work of the teacher, but makes it increasingly difficult to conduct the teaching in a satisfactory manner. The dissecting-room is also much overcrowded with the present forty-six students, and is, I should say, distinctly unwholesome. Rooms that were large enough ten or twelve years ago are now much too small, and it is time that steps were taken to add largely to the building of the Medical School. Dental School. —Report of the Director (Professor H. Percy Pickerill, M.8.. Ch 11 8.D.5., L.D.S.). The following figures represent concisely the clinical work of the Dental Hospital : Number of students attending school, 16; undergraduates, 12; postgraduates, 4; graduates during year, 3; fresh patients, 434; attendances, 3,395; patients on books to date, 2,022. Total mini-