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Eussell hold in this country positions of assayers and assistants to managers, with moderate salaries but with great advantages in learning mining.work and management. S. T. Brugh, who continued his studies for the B.Sc. degree in the New Zealand University, will probably attain this coveted honour before long, as he has already passed the first section of that degree. Thomas Esdaile is manager of cyanide-works at the South Star Mine, Ballarat, Victoria, where, by profitable, judicious treatment of very poor quartz tailings, he is making quite a name for himself. In a recent letter to me he states that he treated 3,503 tons of 20-2 grains average contents of gold per ton by assay, and extracted therefrom 120 oz. 8 dwt. of gold, equal to 82 per cent. ; value, at £4 Is. per ounce, £487 ; expenses, £260, or about Is. sfd. per ton, leaving a profit of £227. In the foregoing reference is made to only fifteen associates of the school, while twenty-nine are registered in the University Calendar, thus leaving fourteen unnoticed. Of some of these mention is made in my last year's report, while of the others no reliable news is extant. This want and, in fact, a record of the progress in their professions of all our associates, may soon, however, be supplied by the recently formed Otago School of Mines Association, whose aims and objects were commended in an article in the Otago Daily Times ; for, as a preliminary to inviting all past and present students to join the association, their addresses and positions will be ascertained, and thereafter, by communication with the secretary, a correct register will be kept of them, as time goes on ; and as one of the objects of the association is mutual assistance regarding information as to available positions, and generally on mining prospects in this country and the Australian Colonies, there is good reason for hoping that the difficulty before alluded to, of students finding working places during the vacations, may be materially lessened. The work done for the public during the year by Mr. A. Mosley, and since his arrival by Mr. F. B. Stephens, in assays and analyses, and with the testing plant by Professor Ulrich in the determination of minerals and rocks, is given in detail. From these it appears over a hundred and eighty assays, analyses, and examinations were made ; seven parcels of auriferous ore were treated by the testing plant, and detailed reports, including results of assays and cyanide tests, forwarded to the parties interested ; while sixteen lots (some comprising as many as fifteen samples) were submitted to determine minerals and rock specimens. Donations to our Mining Museum. A considerable number of specimens of minerals and rocks—some specially interesting and valuable—have during the year been presented to our collections, by many kind donors, as under :— Mr. James Park: Several specimens of rhyolite-pitchstone from Tairua; peculiar quartz specimens, resembling stalactites, from a cavity in the Eimu Eeef, Puru Mine, Thames; typical specimens of hypersthene and augite andesites from the Waihi and Thames districts; one specimen of quartz rich in auriferous silver orte from the Great Barrier Mine, Great Barrier Island; seven pieces of rhyolite, some of which show very fine spherulitic structure, the others finely laminated structure, from Te Paru, Tairua Eiver; also, from same locality, a very finely crystallized specimen of gypsum (selenite). Mr. Murray Eussell: A large, finely crystallized druse of calcite from the Skipper's Creek district, Otago. Mr. Thomas Esdaile: One specimen of finely crystallized wulfenite, one of smithsonite on psilomelene; one of rhodonite and one of pyromorphite from the Broken Hill Proprietary Mine, New South Wales; also, one piece of auriferous quartz from Lake Austin Mining District, Western Australia. Mr. P. Fitzgerald : Two specimens of richly auriferous quartz, containing zinc-blende and galena, from the Croesus Eeef, Greymouth. Mr. J. McNeil: A number of rock specimens, comprising amphibolite and varieties of granite, from the Divide between Lake Te Anau and George's Sound. Mr. Hone Heke, M.H.E. : Sample of zircon sand from Victoria. Mr. Wallace : One fine specimen of turquoise from the King Eiver Mine, Victoria; a sample of heavy black sand, containing grains of sapphire, tourmaline, rutile, zircon, &c, from Tasmania ; also, two pieces of smelted tin from Tasmania Smelting-works. Mr. F. B. Stephens: One specimen of auriferous banket and one of strongly pyritous slickensided banket from the Transvaal, South Africa. Mr. Colin Campbell: Quartz-druse from the Amaranth Eeef, Waihi district. Mr. A. Hamilton (the .Registrar): Several large fine specimens of crystallized quartz, crystals with amethystine tops, associated with chabasite and calcite ; also a specimen of agate, all from geodes in melaphyre, Oberstein, Bavaria; also a specimen of pisolitic limestone from Napier. Mr. G. Neale : A collection of specimens from the St. Agnes Ming and neighbourhood, Norseman, Western Australia, comprising calcite, lithomarge, large fine gypsum crystals, jasper, and pieces of felsite and calcareous fine-grained sandstone impregnated with iron pyrites. Mr. D. V. Allen : A number of specimens illustrating the rhyolite rocks of Broken Hills, Tairua, North Island; also, from same locality, two specimens of crystallized gypsum, one specimen of opal rock showing small particles of precious opal, and several specimens of jasper obsidian. Mr. E. C. White : Sample of alluvial native silver and specimens of magnetite, caloite, pyrrhotite, iron mica-schist, and fossiliferous sandstone from the Gold-dredging Company's Claim, Skipper's, Otago. Editor of Otago Witness : Fine gypsum crystals from auriferous greensand claim, Livingstone, Maerewhenua. Mr. H. Buckland : Several specimens of common opal, and a piece of quartzite with an opalline crust from the Otago Central Eailway, near Hyde,