8

E.—7

Honours in Mining. —The signal success achieved by our graduates in the New Zealand University examinations in recent years is directly the result of raising the standard of the teaching in all the departments in the Mining School to the degree standard in 1901. The geological is the only division of the school in which " honours " can be secured, and it is for this reason that no honours in mining or metallurgy figure in the above list. Honours in geology are taken in connection with the ordinary B.Sc. degree. By passing two examinations students obtain the pass degree, with the chance of securing in the second examination a New Zealand University Senior Scholarship. As the number of students competing for the annual Senior Scholarship in natural science is commonly small, being seldom more than two or three, it follows that the scholarship is practically a gift to any diligent candidate—that is to say, a student can secure his B.Sc. degree, with a Senior Scholarship added, which enables him to ;sit for "honours " in the third or final year. And to all of this no objection can be urged in sucli an important subject as geology. On the other hand, the mining and metallurgical undergraduate is compelled to pass three long examinations before qualifying for Ms B.E. degree, besides having to spend a year in practical work. He is offered no Senior Scholarship and can obtain no honours,-notwithstanding the passing of three examinations, the last two of which require a wide range of professional knowledge of an exact kind. Honours in mining and metallurgy have been granted by the Royal School of Mines and by the College of Science for the past thirty years or more, and of the new English universities those of Birmingham and Leeds provide for honours in mining and metallurgy. Havard grnnts a D.Sc. degree in mining. Mining is a basal industry. The needs of modern times are so completely dependent on its productions that without it our civilisation could not exist for a day; and yet, despite its dominant position and the magnitude of its operation, its study and pursuit as a profession is seriously handicapped by the statutes of the New Zealand University, as compared with purely academic subjects. This is a survival of the traditional homage so long paid to the learning of the dead languages and abstract sciences in the older universities. The introduction of the physical sciences in the last century paved the way for the applied sciences which now hold an honoured place in the universities of Great Britain, continental Europe, and America. The author, in his annual report for 1906, stated that the New Zealand University at the present time grants senior scholarships and honours in all the purely academic subjects, one senior scholarship and honours in three grades in each, but no scholarships or honours in the subjects relating to applied science, such as economic geology, mining, metallurgy, applied mechanics, surveying, or engineering. This, surely, ought to be remedied. Applied science is the connecting-link between the university and the every-day industrial and professional life, and some incentive should be held out to the graduate in applied science. If the University of New Zealand is to be a living factor in the industrial progress of the Dominion it will be done chiefly through the efforts of its graduates in applied science. To grant scholarships and honours in such fundamental subjects as mathematics, physics, mechanics, and chemistry is admittedly right and proper, but to withhold like reward from the graduate who chooses a course in which the principles of these subjects are applied is a phase of our university system not in touch with the times in which we live, or in accordance with European usage The lack of appreciation of applied science shown in New Zealand is perhaps due to the constitution of the University Senate and partly to timidity of isolation. In the representation the academic element is conspicuously dominant, while our isolation prevents a personal acquaintance with the intensely progressive movement that has swept over the universities of Great Britain in the past decade- The older universities are becoming more and more democratic, and frankly realise that they are a co-ordinate part of the general educational system, and exist for something besides mere polish. New Mining School Building. —After calling the attention of the Council and Ministers to the ruinous condition of the present building for many successive years, the directors find it a pleasure to chronicle that a start has at last been made with the erection of a new building for which a grant of £5,000 has been made by the Government. It is hoped that everything will be in readiness for the formal opening of the new school at the beginning of next session. Laboratory. —During the past year 134 samples of ore and mineral were assayed for the public by Mr. Waters at schedule rates : and in the same period thirty-seven samples of rock, &c, were examined and reported on by the Director, and some thirty by Dr. Marshall —all free of charge. Original Research by Staff.—-Bγ Professor Park: (1) The Geology of the Cromwell Districts of Central Otago, Bulletin No. 5, New Zealand Geographical Survey—illustrated with ten coloured maps, numerous coloured sections, plates, and forty-seven diagrams—Government Printer, Wellington ; (2) Text-book of Mining Geology, second edition —Chas. Griffin and Co., London; (3) Text-book of Theodolite Surveying and Levelling—Chas. Griffin and Co., London (in press); (4) Magnetic Segregation in its Relation to the Genesis of Certain Ore-bodies—Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. xxxviii, p. 11 ; (5) Contact Metamorphism in its Relation to the Genesis of Certain Oredeposits—Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. xxxviii, p. 16; (6) Thermal Activity in its Relation to the Genesis of Certain Metalliferous Veins—Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. xxxviii, p. 20; (7) On the Role of Metasomatism in the Formation of Certain Ore-deposits—Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. xxxviii, p. 33. By Dr. Marshall: (1) Geological Notes on South-western Otago—Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. xxxix, p. 496; (2) Text-book on Geology of New Zealand—Government Printer (in press); (3) The Character and Distribution of Igneous Rock in New Zealand —Trans. Aust. Ass Ad. Sc Vol xiii 1907. Acknowledgments. —The Director wishes, in conclusion, to place on record his appreciation of the co-operation of his colleagues in promoting the interests of the institution. His acknowledgments are especially due to Dr. Marshall and Mi-. Waters, who have carried on the work in their respective departments with much zeal and conspicuous success.