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Beference Library. — Total of Books in each Section. History ... ... 1,003 Foreign literature ... 399 Astronomy .. ... 88 History, Constitutional... 45 Architecture... ... 551 Biography ... ... 449 Educational ... ... 162 Societies, learned ... 167 Divinity ... ... 738 Political ... ... 2,085 Miscellaneous ... 254 Mineralogy ... ... 18 Calendars, &c. ... 901 Agriculture ... ... 267 Geology ... ... 169 Newspapers ... ... 325 Fine Arts, &c. ... 348 Legal ... ... 70 Zoology ... ... 286 Chemistry and physics 71 Mathematics ... ... 119 Natural science ... 217 Dictionaries ... ... 315 Biology ... ... 25 Travels .. ... 365 Philosophy and mental Anatomy, surgery, &c. ... 104 English literature, prose 511 science ... ... 607 English poetry and drama 269 Botany ... ... 105 Total ... 11,033 Museum. The Curator reports as follows : — " Since the 31st May, when I made my last report, two new cases have been bought for the restorations of extinct animals, and exchanges have been concluded with the museums of Dresden and Dunedin as well as with Professor Ward, of New York, Mr Allan Owston, of Yokohama, and Mr W. D. Webster, of Oxford. The following are the principal additions during the last seven months : Geological Booms —A large meteorite from Alaska, obtained by exchange. Natural History Booms—Skins and skeletons of birds, skulls of seals, and a beautiful glass-rope sponge, all by exchange. Ethnological Room—A number of objects from North America, South Africa, Central Japan, Celebes, Ruk Island, and New Guinea, obtained by exchange; fourteen old earthenware figures from Japan and six carved clubs from Tonga and Samoa, by purchase; and a smokebag of the Stoney Indians, Canada, presented by the Countess of Ranfurly. Antiquity Room— Twelve palaeolithic implements from Somali-land, North Africa, purchased; and an old Scotch quern for grinding corn, presented by Mr. A. McPhil. New Zealand skeleton of a female sea-elephant and skin of a male fur-seal, acquired by purchase ; a collection of Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera, presented by Mr. Herbert Clarke; a collection of named Lichens, presented by Mr. T. W. Naylor Becket; and two panels from an old Maori house, presented by Mr. A. Hamilton. Library—The principal addition is a copy of Messrs. Heape and Partington's Ethnological Album, which was purchased. The usual presentations have been made, and a number of books have been bound. —F. W. Hutton, Curator." School op Act. The Art Master reported on the work for the year 1897, as follows : — " Owing to the necessity having arisen for economy, alterations have had to be made, including the raising materially of the fees in both morning and evening classes. The school has thus been severely handicapped, and the numbers necessarily have been somewhat less than in the previous year. Notwithstanding this slight decrease, however, the work in all the different branches has been very satisfactory. The numbers for the three terms compared with 1896 have been respectively as follows : Morning : 1896—38, 34, 37; 1897—32, 29, 31. Evening : 1896 : 98, 98, 104; 1897— 101, 89, 93. Saturday : 1896—77, 100, 106 ; 1897—97, 88, 93. In the morning class for drawing and painting the work, as in former years, has been divided into four branches—one elementary, two intermediate, and advanced. In the first, outline and elementary light and shade have been studied from models, still life, and the cast; in the two intermediate ones more difficult work, combined with colour, has been given; and in the advanced the students have drawn from the cast of the full figure and painted from life and still life. We have been hindered very much in our still-life work by the want of suitable objects from which to study, and I trust we shall be able to obtain a better supply of more appropriate ones this year. Those qualified have painted landscape from nature each Tuesday when the weather permitted. The class was rather larger and the average attendance a little higher than in the previous year. In the evening class all the students at the commencement of their studies, to whatever branch of work they wish ultimately to devote their attention, are thoroughly grounded in freehand and model, and no special certificate of any kind is granted until the student has obtained certificates in these subjects ; hence these foundation classes are always two of the largest. In the freehand work, the brush has been freely used as well as the pencil with which to line-in or finish a drawing. As greater care and delicacy of handling is required when using this method, it gives increased power of manipulation, and is extremely useful in preparation for future work. The memory has been again trained by special work both at school and at home, and its usefulness is now more manifest in the advanced work. Modelling in clay and plaster-casting have been taught on Monday night from 7 to 9, and on Wednesday morning from 11.30 to 1. The last term the number attending was—morning 10, evening 21. The work has been very satisfactory, and the quality and quantity have both made marked progress. From being one of the most insignificant this class has developed into one of the most successful in the school. As yet the work has been, with one exception, of an elementary character, most of the students copying from elementary casts of ornament and the antique, and a few from drawings and photographs. Two have modelled heads from the antique, and one has done several bas-reliefs from life. A new feature in the last year's work has been the moulding and casting, and very successful results have been achieved, considering the short experience of the students. Chip-, gelatine-, and piece-moulding have all been practised. B. Garsia, G. Hart, E. Archbold, and C. Brassington have produced the best and most advanced work. Classes for drawing and painting from life have been held. The numbers