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race than did the lately departed controller of the most sanitary and best conducted Maori pa, Papawai. A persistent war has been waged by the Department against " tohungaism " ; but while we must regret the surviva' of the tribal medicine-man, we are not entitled to express surprise or indulge in Pharisaical prayers. With a literature leading back to the Venerable Bede, and a scientific knowledge wh'ch embraces the liquefaction of air and a practical acquaintance with ethergrams, who are we to point the finger of scorn at the Native who believes in the enchanted potato, or who allows his wife to be walked upon in order to induce the unwilling first-born to undertake the trouble of living. We have but to glance at the advertisement-sheets of any of the popular magazines, and an impartial inquirer must come to the conclusion that 97 per cent, of the advertisers are firmly convinced that there exists no such thing as a sound man or woman. I can imagine with no great outrage to my logical faculty a Macaulay or a Buckle of the year 2000 calmly assuring his readers that all women were grossly fat, hairless, or too hairy, and that all men had lost their manhood and vigour in the year 1904. If with all the experience and education which we " pakehas ' have behind us, Cagliostros the many diverse characters as evidenced by their advertisements find a profitable market, need we wonder —have we a right to assume an air of superiority towards the Maori who has not lost his belief in tapu. Of a truth we are too liable to see the mote in our neighbour's eye. I do not for one moment suggest that the fight we are engaged in should be foregone, but it would be well before condemning our brother colonists because of their benighted habits if we remembered the enormous revenue which is derived every year from the duty on patent medicines. Deaths occur among our Native brothers through an adherence to ancient prejudices and beliefs, and we must do what we can to check the illicit practice of the tohunga ; but while we engage ourselves in this good work, let us not shut our eyes to the fact that we are every bit as superstitious and illogical in our actions as our poorer brothers whom we condemn, and whom we are so anxious to rescue from the hands of the charlatan. As the old Indian proverb runs, " I met an hundred men on my way to Delhi, and all of them were brothers." Dr. Pomare in his report emphasizes the remarks I made last year with respect to the value of inducing the Maori to undertake regular work. lam fairly convinced that until all communistic interest in land has ceased, until the land and property of the Maori can be individualised, the downward progress cannot be checked. It is pleasing to record that drunkenness among our Native brothers has vastly decreased. The Maori Councils Act has done much to raise the Native in his own eyes, and this after all is what is aimed at in all democratic countries. Give a man —no matter what his colour may be — responsibilities, and immediately he begins to raise himself. Here undoubtedly, progress is many times barred by the fact that there are too many small local bodies, and it would be well to dispense with not a few of them ; but as a man must learn to walk ere he can be expected to run, that a child must suffer many hard knocks ere he learns to co-ordinate the muscles of his legs, can never be offered as a reason that he should not be allowed to try. As with the white, so with the brown, the imposition of some responsibility has always a good effect. The maleficent effect of the tohunga has been adverted to, but the first step towards curbing his power and preventing the undoubted waste of infantile and adult life among our Natives will be found in the passing of a law which will require the registration of every death just as obtains among the pakeha. Until the death of every Maori is required to be registered just as is the death of a white man no effectual steps can be undertaken to check the power of the " medicine-man." The issue of the circular drawing attention to the presence and danger of small-pox was productive of very much good. The Maoris from all parts, north and south, clamoured to be vaccinated. It is interesting from a scientific point of view to note Dr. Pomare's statement that the half-castes suffered more from that simple operation than did the whites. It is feasible to suppose that from the fact that the forefathers of the unvaccinated whites had been nearly all vaccinated they were able to transmit a partial immunity. Ankylostomiasis. In view of Professor Haldane's report upon some of the Cornish mines, and bearing in mind the very intimate connection we had with South Africa recently ; further, as the disease has long been common in Austria and Germany, it was thought wise to issue the following circular to all mine-ownei* and those in charge of the mine-workers' interests. Ankylostomiasis, and its Prevention in Mines. I trust you will pardon me drawing your attention to the possibility of the disease called " ankylostomiasis " affecting the men in your employment. " This disease as you may be aware, has caused a considerable number of deaths both on the Continent and in England. It was the subject of investigation by Professor Haldane lately because of its ance in some of the mines in Cornwall.