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suffered seriously through having to train raw recruits in gun drill at the last moment. It would be well if the cadets could have some training in the use of guns on board training-ships, or at least an opportunity to gain a good knowledge of the various parts and working of the large guns. In this way a species of reserve would be created that would be of immense advantage in time of war. Our main battles will most probably be on the sea. This would enable New Zealand to show the Imperial sentiment on se as well as on land. At present the most the public are permitted is a very casual inspection of the big guns at long intervals. For many of our smaller schools physical exercises must continue the chief part of the drill. " Movement is as imperious a necessity and demands as much attention as starvation or thirst, and the lack of it begets a general state of nervous excitement which can only be overcome by exercise." (Senor Cabezas at the Educational Congress in Chili). Physical training is good not only for physical health. Dr. Krohn, quoted elsewhere, remarks: " I must say that I have never seen a case of brain disorderliness that was not benefited by physical training " During the year the North Marlborough Amateur Athletic Association was formed, and celebrated sports at Havelock shortly before Christmas. The success of the inaugural meeting fully justified the movement. The competitions included all varieties of physical exercise. Sports like these have much influenc> in creating a community of feeling between the schools, and doubtless give an incentive that will be productive of good in other departments. History will, at least in the smaller schools, alternate with geography Course B. Only eleven schools presented pupils in this subject during 1905 ; the number will therefore be much larger in 1906. Where a reading-book is used for the double purpose of giving instruction in reading and history, or in reading and geography, the teacher must see to it that the second subject obtains due recognition. Trafalgar Day, as one of the nodes round which Imperial sentiment vibrates, was celebrated in the schools. At the larger ones, leading citizens addressed the children, the flag was saluted, and the cadets paraded. There are branches of the Navy League at Blenheim Boys', Picton, Springlands, Fairhall, and St. Mary's Convent Schools. The members, won by the prizes offered by the League, gave considerable attention to England's naval history. In this way much was done to quicken patriotism and foster the cause of national fellowship. In those schools where history is taken every alternate year an earnest attempt should be made in its year to endow the children with a sense of the charm of our national story. Apart from the strength inherent in a nation which is proud of its great ancestry and anxious to maintain its standards, the teachings of history are an excellent moral discipline. No Briton rightly taught history can do wrong except against the grain. A hundred glamorous traditions tend to make his life beautiful and good. It is very important that teachers should recognise the iron under the velvet of history. We bask at present in the sunny security of a ten-years treaty of alliance with Japan. Yet decades are but moments in the life of a nation. At the late German army manoeuvres the men marched on an average thirty miles a day, carrying 50 lb. in addition to rifle and cartridges. If that be the state of peace, and the tax one people pays for its maintenance, it is needful that in a land where conscription is abhorred those subtle links that bind the various parts of our race together be not allowed to corrode for lack of burnishing. The teaching of history is the chief contribution of the schools to the security of the nation. In the moment of peril the arm of our defender will not feel less strong if the great story of army and navy stand like bastions on either side of him. We must read the present in the light of the past. To read the description in " Ranolf and Amohia " of the Rotorua terraces, and then go and view the present desolation of Rotorua, is to appreciate the fate of the Transvaal and many another country that thought itself secure. Carthage, the mighty rival of Rome, when overthrown, had no day of repentance and restitution although two thousand years have rolled by in the interval. We have a smiling land and the fruity times of peace, but the teachers may not labour the less earnestly if they appreciate aright their high mission as the coadjutors of army and navy in the defence of their country. Health and Moral Instruction. —It would be well for the young teacher to read over every now and again the sections of the syllabus under the above headings. This would keep the topics fresh in his memory, and he would be the readier to seize upon and elaborate the contingencies of school life. He would see the moral and health aspects of school happenings, of school construction and hygiene. It is the capping of incidents like this that comes home to the child and sends him away with a new thought to ponder. I noted only thirteen schools where I could feel confident that any extended instruction of this class had been attempted. This remark applies, however, only to the conscious reasoning on the above topics —that part of them which could be tested by questioning. In so far as moral teaching shows itself in the tone and atmosphere of the school there was little left to desire as the notes under tone and discipline indicate. Nature-study.—The subjects of a school course are roughly classified as " formal " and " real." A " formal " subject is one like writing, which consists in a developed skill and is not an end in itself, but is useful as an aid to the acquirement, retention, accumulation, and progress of knowledge gathered from other regions. A science is classified as " real." We study it for the sake of its own teachings. It is its own end. The above is, however, only a rough classification, for every subject may be viewed as " real" in certain aspects— e.g., when we try to produce good writing, and find pleasure in the beauty of the writing, this art has become its own end. Reading is also a "formal" study. But if a teacher sets out to produce in his pupils a sonorous, round-toned enunciation that will be pleasing to the ear, so that one may take a sensuous pleasure and find attraction in the very listening—then reading becomes an end in itself. Some teachers have great success with the treatment of reading as a " real " subject. Spelling and arithmetic are likewise " formal" studies. We do not spell for spelling's sake, but because uniform spelling facilitates communication. It frequently throws light on a subject if we discover the end to be served by it. Nature-study is primarily " formal." It is undertaken in the first place, not for the information gained thereby, but in order that a habit of observing may be formed. Much valuable knowledge may be gained incidentally, but the primary teacher's 5—E, Ib.