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shall have more abundance, but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that little which he hath." Victoria College has worked hard to establish a law school, and is the only college which has apparently considered the subject of law worthy of serious study, for at each of the other centres law is, according to Mr. Hogben's tables, left in the hands of a lecturer. The fact that Wellington i< regarded as the legal centre of New Zealand further forces upon the College Council the duty of providing for specialization in this important subject, and unless a special grant is forthcoming for the law department not only will this department be itself hampered, but all the other departments of the College will suffer, since each will have a portion of its expenditure curtailed so that the special school may receive as much as possible. If it is found advisable to contribute £1,000 annually to one college for home science, which as a university subject is only on its trial, the granting of at least £2,000 annually for the maintenance of a special school of law cannot be denied. In the words of Charles Dickens, " Let us try to be reasonable, let us try to be good-natured, let us try to be fair in this matter." The sum of £550 which it is proposed that each college shall be allowed to expend on its laboratories annually (page 12) appears to me to be too low, more particularly as this includes fees of mechanics and laboratory assistants. If each professor in Victoria College who has laboratories in his oharge had a laboratory assistant at £50 per annum, the assistants would receive .£2OO and the mechanic receive £220, so that £130 would be left to provide materials, renewals, repairs, and, apparently, new apparatus. For the five teachers in experimental science this means £26 per annum. I believe that Canterbury College is spending £200 annually on the repairs, renewals, and new apparatus for its chemical laboratory alone, and this expenditure is not excessive if the institution is tii lie kept in touch with the latest developments of the subject in Europe and America. It must be admitted that the providing and keeping up the equipment for a few advanced science students is of necessity ;i heavy expenditure, but the direct return in material value to the community is more than proportionately large. I will put two instances before you from our own Victoria College experience. Mr. B. C. Aston, Dominion Agricultural Chemist, was trained in research methods in my laboratory. The application of chemical research by him has apparently solved the difficulty of bush disease in the Tauranga district, so that nearly a million acres of unprofitable land will become available for cattle. A tax of Id. per annum on that million acres would provide nearly twice the sum that it is proposed to spend upon the annual upkeep and maintenance of the whole chemical, physical, geological, and biological laboratories of the four University colleges, and the Dominion still has the services of Mr. Aston, who will undoubtedly solve a number of other agricultural riddles in the near future. Another investigation from my laboratories dealt with the conversion of fats into waxes. This was by Miss Clara Taylor, who held a Government research scholarship, but had begun the work before being appointed to it. This investigation will. I am certain, lead to the establishment of a great though economic conditions may of course prevent the local establishment of the industry. I ought perhaps to add that neither Miss Taylor nor Mr. Aston, nor the greater number of my research students, have taken a B.Sc. degree, an indication that the value of the science work in a college cannot be measured in terms pf the number of H.Sc.s trained in that college. I believe thai inquiry would show that the average B.Sc. could not carry out a scientific investigation in any subject; hence no doubt the attitude of the recent professorial conference in desiring to abolish the name B.Sc. for the present degree and to call it a B.A. degree. The term B.A. is rightly applied to a degree which implies general culture rather than scientific proficiency. Considering the great importance to the community of having highly trained specialists amongst us, it is imperative that in connection with the financing of our colleges additional help shall be available for institutions which show that a high standard of research work is being maintained. An additional argument in this direction is introduced by the fact that the Civil Service Commissioners are imposing efficiency bars to increases in salary in the scientific departments; these Civil servants will find it necessary to study experimental science in a college in such a manner as to qualify as experts. The expenditure proposed in the report upon libraries is, I consider, quite inadequate : 1 am told by a'member of one legal firm in Wellington that considerably over £1,000 lias been spent upon the firm's law library. To propose a capital expenditure of £500 to be divided between the fifteen or more subjects in each college cannot make the college libraries efficient, nor is £250 per annum sufficient for an annual grant. One of my colleagues has spent £250 within the last two years in order that he may have a library which will keep him abreast of his subject. Many professors both in Wellington and the other centres have spent and are spending very heavily upon books and journals, and I know that in not a few cases the private library of the professor is plated at the convenience of the advanced student. Some time before the Inspector-General was deputed to report upon the subject the Victoria College Professorial Hoard reported to the College Council on this very matter. We considered that in the case of our own library a capital sum of £2,000 and an annual expenditure of £500 for books, journals, and binding was the minimum we could ask for, and the Council was convinced that the Professorial Board was not asking for too much. I wish to emphasize three points in connection with college libraries : (1.) Unless a professor is provided with the latest literature he has little chance of remaining efficient. His loss of efficiency will not be discovered by the governing body so long as his students pass their examinations. The preparation of students for examination is, however, no part of the duty of a professor, whose function should be to teach his subject thoroughly ami to stimulate students with a desire for (lie highest form oi scholarship. However great the examination successes of a professor, the man is, from the University standpoint, a failure unless he succeeds in stimulating his student with a desire to study his subject further after the examinations are over. (2.) It is very hard to get a spirit of scholarship into a student unless he is constantly being brought into contact with the best literature, and this can only be done in a properly equipped library. His studies should centre round the library, and even the elementary student should be practically forced to work in the library so as to acquire the