E.—7

6

America, and Australia have, attracted by its fame, come to Christchurch expressly to visit the New Zealand collections stored in the Museum. The publications of scientific societies at Home, in America, and in Australia have, as usual, most generously and gratuitously been continued. An oil-painting of the late Mr. George Gould has been purchased by the department and placed in the Museum. This gentleman, as is well known, was at all times a very liberal contributor to the interesting and valuable collections in the Museum. During the six months ended the 31st December, 1889, the sum of £50 was expended in the purchase of books for the Museum library, as well as £25 for binding volumes already on the shelves; and for the financial year ending the 31st December, 1890, a further sum of £100 has been placed on the estimates for the same object. Some damage having been done to various exhibits during the year, it was necessary to appoint a doorkeeper with a view to the better protection of property and the preservation of order in the building. A very handsome gift, the model of the s.s. " Arawa," has been presented to the Museum by Messrs. Denny Brothers, of Dumbarton, through Mr. Peter Cunningham, for which the thanks of the Board have been forwarded. School of Abt. The art-master reports a gradual advance in quality in the work performed in the school during the year. The numbers attending the morning class for the three terms of the past season have been respectively 27, 30, and 31, and the evening class 62, 69, and 66. There has been a slight increase in each class during the year; and there is a still further increase during the present term. The students from the Normal School, after the lapse of a year and a half, again attended during the second term of the year 1889 for instruction in elementary art. The hours appointed are from 4 o'clock to 6 o'clock on Friday afternoons, after their ordinary work is finished, but,I'notwithstanding, fair work has been accomplished. At the Boys' High School, 115 boys have received tuition for four hours in each week, and an extra class for three hours weekly has been attended by them in the School of Art on the subjects of plane and solid geometry, freehand and model drawing. Six free studentships were offered for competition on the work of the year in landscape, drawing from the life, architectural drawing, and "light and shade;" three in the morning class were awarded to Misses Stoddart, Meeson and Munnings (equal), and Culliford, and also three in the evening class to Miss Munnings and Messrs. Fielder and Chaplin. The boys who gained the scholarships given by the Board to district schools have attended regularly during the year, and have made good progress. Two of the names appear in the prize-list. The art-master suggests that in future perhaps it would be well to open the competition for scholarships to all the district schools, instead of only to ten as at present. A series of drawings, twenty-seven in number, were sent to the Dunedin Exhibition, and four first- and four second-class orders of merit were gained. At the competition of the Auckland Art Society, held last April, three prizes were won by the students of the School of Art. The annual exhibition of works by the students was held in February last, and was largely attended. All branches of study were represented, and progress was more especially evident in the sketching from nature and drawing from the antique. Prizes were awarded on the result of the work of the year as follows : Two in freehand from the flat, two in model drawing, one for drawing from the antique, and one for decorative design. The usual second-grade examinations were held last December, with the following results in passes : Freehand, 46 ; model, 35 ; perspective, 5 ; blackboard, 8. Public Libeaby. During the year just ended, some additions have been made to the house of the sub-librarian adjoining the library, and it has been placed in thorough repair. A new boiler for the heating apparatus has been provided. The usefulness of the library to the public increases yearly, and the advantages of it are more appreciated. A new catalogue for the department was out of the printer's hands last September ; that edition, together with the supplements for the December and March quarters, contains about 12,000 volumes. Circulating Library. —During the year 1,063 new books have been added, while 166 have been taken out of circulation, and 10 placed in the reference library. The total number of books in this library, according to the return for the previous year, amounted to 11,144. At the present date, allowing for the volumes added and those taken out of circulation, the total stands at 12,031. Seventy-two magazines of various kinds and nine newspapers are subscribed for. Two new magazines are now regularly taken in, " The Centennial" (Sydney), and the "New Eeview" (London). Two hundred and eighty-eight works of fiction and 14 other volumes have been ordered from England, and are expected to come to hand during the present month. The number of books issued to subscribers weekly is over 2,500. The average daily attendance in the three departments is over 600, and the total number of subscribers to the circulating library amounts to 1,300. Reference Library. —During the' year 312 works have been added, making the total number 8,046 in this department, and some valuable standard works have been lately received, and others are expected to arrive by next mail. Ten magazines are now placed each month on the table of the reference library. A new book-case, capable of holding 500 volumes, has been placed in this department. Beading-room. —The following papers—English, 8 ; American, 1; Australian, 7 ; New Zealand about 45; and 15 magazines—are taken in; while The Queen-slander, Adelaide Observer, Tasmanian Mail, and Sydney Daily Telegraph have been recently added. School of Ageicultube. During the first term of 18"90 the number of students increased to forty, owing," it is presumed, to the reduction in the fees. There is bedroom accommodation for about five more students, but the laboratories and studies are each now taxed to ttfeir full capacity. From a report of the Director, the cost of each person in the establishment may be seen to be £28 13s. 9d. per annum, as compared with £25 2s. 6d., the cost in 1889 at Dookie College in Victoria, mentioned in the report of the late