E.—B

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for examination; of the remaining 9, 2 had already passed the Senior Free Place Examination, and the parents of the 7 others did not wish them to sit. Of the 22 boys in the Upper Fourth, 9 boys entered for the Junior Civil Service Examination; of the remaining 13, 4 did not enter owing to parents' wish, 3 because they were leaving, and 6 were in the lower half of the form, and not up to the standard. Thus the Upper School is accounted for. As has been said, 63 boys were examined by public examinations in 1907, as against 59 in 1906, and 32 in 1905. For Matriculation 21 boys sat: 14 passed and 7 failed. Of the latter one had to leave the examination from illness, and two entered against the advice of the school. Forty boys sat for Junior Civil Service or Senior Free Places :36 passed and 4 failed. One, who also passed the Senior Civil Service, was third in New Zealand. Two boys on this examination were awarded Senior Scholarships by the Board of Education. All the Upper Sixth entered for the Junior University Scholarship Examination; one did not sit owing to illness. Of the six who sat, two (H. D. Broadhead and R. E. Bevan-Brown) were awarded Junior University Scholarships, D. J. Seymour a Senior National, 11. Rands a Gammack Scholarship, and the remaining two, G. H. Robertson and A. Donnelly, were placed on the Credit List. With regard to these six boys just named, it is interesting to note that one was an officer in the cadets and a member of the first football fifteen, an editor of the school magazine, and secretary of the Navy League; another was one of our best bats, champion swimmer, captain of the second football fifteen, a fives player, and also an editor of the magazine; another was in our first cricket eleven, and a prominent member of the second fifteen; another was a librarian, another a footballer and sergeant in cadets. This will show that in most cases boys have—happily for them — many interests and activities to prevent them from complete absorption in examinations, and that the school fairly acts up to the motto, " Mens sana in corpore sano." Notification has been received since the last report that D. L. Sinclair and F. V. Bevan-Brown passed the London Matriculation Examination. The fact that nearly all the Upper School entered for some public examination at the end of the year still renders it inadvisable that the Upper School should be subjected to the double strain of both a school examination and a public examination at that time. The specimens of drawing and woodwork at the recent International Exhibition obtained distinction, especially the woodwork. At the special request of the Nelson Education Board the woodwork exhibits were sent to Nelson to be placed in the School Museum. In the latter part of 1907 influenza greatly interfered with school-work. A notable distinction at the end of the year was the inclusion in the scientific expedition to the southern islands of two masters of the staff, Mr. R. M. Laing, 8.A., and Mr. R. Speight, B.Sc.; the latter has recently been made a Fellow of the Geological Society. The sum of £628 (including interest) was collected by the old boys for the gymnasium, the expenses of circulars, &c, was £27, and £601 has been paid over to the Board of Governors; on this a subsidy of £600 is due from the Government. The contract for a gymnasium in stone has been let, and the foundation-stone was laid by Mr. G. W. Russell on the 23rd February, 1908. A special motto and coat of arms has been adopted for the school, and will be carved over the main door of the gymnasium. As an indication of how far the school is serving as a feeder to Canterbury College and the New Zealand University, which was one of the main purposes of its foundation, the following facts are given :— There are at the present time (first term, 1908) forty-one matriculated students, who are old boys of the school, attending lectures at Canterbury College. In addition, there are several at Dunedin, and a considerable number at Wellington University Colleges; besides, of course, others studying medicine at London and Edinburgh. There are old boys acting as assistants or demonstrators to the School of Engineering, and the Professors of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology at Canterbury College. The school started in 1881, and it was 1888 before any boys were old enough to take their degrees. Since 1888 there have been sixty-five old boys who have graduated at the New Zealand University; of these twenty-six have taken honours in arts or science. Since 1888 there have been eleven double first-class honours obtained in the New Zealand University; three of them were by old boys of this school. The school has won sixteen Senior University Scholarships and thirtythree Junior University Scholarships. The distinctions won by old boys during the year since the last annual report are as follows : J. G. Lancaster, M.Sc ; J. S. Monro and L. Hopkins, LL.B.; J. A. Bartrum, B.Sc. and Senior University Scholarship in Physics; C. A. Cotton, B.Sc. (first-class) and Sir G. Grey Scholarship. Canterbury Public Library. Reference Department. In this department 241 volumes and pamphlets have been added by purchase, 261 volumes presented (list of donations attached), 1 volume (Memoirs of Marquis de Grammont) stolen, 1 volume (duplicate) transferred to circulating department, leaving the total number of volumes 17,182. The Engineering has been added to the papers taken. During the year we were left by the will of the late Sir John Hall 500 volumes. The books have not yet been received. Patent Journals.— These are received every mail, and are taking up a considerable space in the room, which has necessitated removing to the store a considerable number of old books, which are seldom required. Inadequacy of the Building .—Mote shelving is urgently needed, but there is no available space for the same, as the room is filled in every corner.