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the body shifted, in order to draw curves or lines in various directions. The forms produced and their combinations will naturally suggest decorative and natural shapes, and it should be the object of the teacher to develop this association of ideas. Special chalks are made by Messrs. G. Eowney and Co., London, samples of which may be seen at the Education Department or at the Wellington Technical School. 3. BRUSH-WORK. The supplementary syllabus issued by the Science and Art Department for the use of primary schools (see Appendix B), and the importance attached to the same by a large number of schools, leads me to devote a special chapter to the subject. The aims of brush-work are a cultivation of sense of colour and form, particularly in relation to "patterns and repeats," in which "the natural forms of plants and animals may be broadly treated as motives of ornament and employed to fill given spaces." Such designs are to be executed with chalk (used at arm's length), as just described, brush and water-colours, in a free, bold manner. For the purpose of such designs " large leaves and parts of plants may be drawn from in outline. Geometrical forms may be utilised and regarded as the foundation for ornamental arrangements of natural objects, animals, plants, and the like." The skill thus obtained may be applied to drawing from the round or the fiat, and to memory reproduction. I visited the Alma Eoad Board School (London School Board), under the headmastership of Mr. Seth Coward, where I found excellent proof of the value of such instructions. The school has about three hundred scholars in the boys' department, which I inspected. All boys are taught brush-work. Mr. Coward has overcome the difficulty of drawing at arm's length by inserting a piece of millboard 22 in. by 12 in. by -J- in. in the slate-slot of the desk. This may be used either for drawing upon or for attaching paper to with clips, and has been found to answer all requirements. Brown paper of various shades is freely used for the white and coloured chalk-work ; six colours being selected and sold in boxes, samples of which I have obtained. For brush-work each boy is provided with three sable brushes, it being found cheaper to do so than to provide camel-hair brushes. A palette, water-bottle, and box of water-colours is provided for each desk of two boys in the upper standards. In the lower classes—practically our Standards 11., 111., and IV.—bottles of coloured ink mixed by the teachers are provided. The boys of the upper classes mix their own colours, and white paper is used. Occasionally brown paper and sometimes squared paper is used. I cannot do better than quote Mr. Coward's description of the work : " The size of the classes, ranging from fifty to seventy, has determined that in the main the teaching must be given to the class as a whole. The blackboard has had to play a very prominent part. Each elementary form, such as the oval, has been carefully demonstrated on the board. As soon a% the class has attained some mastery of the particular form, whether produced by chalk or brush, practice is obtained by allowing each scholar to form a simple arrangement in different positions with different colours. Then half and quarter of the oval are similarly taught, arranged and combined with one another. In the case of the brush forms, the form which is being demonstrated is drawn on the board on a large scale with coloured chalks, and also drawn in colour with a large demonstration brush on a sheet of paper fastened to the blackboard. When forms are thus known they are also arranged and combined by the teacher at the board. The class then forms similar but not identical combinations. Elements and combinations are copied, not as the end, but as the beginning of the scholar's own work. All copying is preparatory for and subsidiary to reproduction in design." In the upper classes studies are sometimes made from nature—leaves, plants, and flowers being freely copied, and afterwards employed in design. The time given is two hours per week. The best drawings of the day are exhibited upon the class-room walls, and when all available space is filled a drawing to gain a place must be better than one of the same stage already on exhibition. The children are allowed to the full their play of the inventive faculty ; and there can be no doubt the exercises greatly stimulate that faculty, and encourage a boy to believe in his own powers to a reasonable extent. The delight of the children in the production of these exercises is one of the pleasing features of the work, and leads one to conclude that design and artistic power are capable of production in every scholar. By the courtesy of Mr. Coward I am enabled to show examples of this work done in ordinary class during my visit to the school. (See Plates VI. to XII.) The work shows that the new syllabus issued by the department is of the highest educational value. It is but fair to remark that exceptional conditions are required to have brush-work taught in the manner adopted at the Alma Eoad School. Each member of the staff has been carefully trained by Mr. Coward to obtain the required result, the excellence of the work in every standard being mainly due to his enthusiasm and able direction. The brush-work of Thomas Street School, under the direction of Mr. Gill, was also particularly worthy of note, a carefully graduated scheme having been prepared. This scheme, however, is not carried to the extent characteristic of Alma Eoad, which is exceptional in its working. I do not suggest for one moment that the various sections of work described should all be tried. I have given them as instances of what is being done, with a hope that some of the work may be taken in hand as deemed advisable or suitable to the needs of particular schools. As to the value of such studies there can be no question, and nothing has impressed me more in my recent visit than the extent of this work, and the high value set upon it by the teachers by whom the instruction is given. General Eemaeks with Beference to the Three Foregoing Subsections. Special Instruction in Drawing and Modelling. —ln certain centres there are higher-grade schools attached to the primary schools, where courses of science- and art-work are conducted, and grants obtained under the Science and Art Department regulations. Special instruction is here given under the London School Board regulations to scholars who have exceptional ability for drawing or modelling. Teachers who are desirous that scholars from their schools may attend these centres make application to the District Drawing Instructor. The centres are open from 9.15 a.m. to 12 noon, and from 2 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. Children attending go direct from their homes, the art teacher being responsible for the registration of attendance and forwarding a notification of