ja.-u

4

" A few candidates were altogether unequal to the requirements of the examination. There were also a few whose carelessness in every respect indicated that they sat with no serious intentions, or else with no earnest desire to qualify.'' Abithmetic. "A number of papers were disfigured by a careless and untidy method of scribbling on the left-hand page." " Some candidates used rides and devices little understood to solve problems." Mathematics, " One word of warning I may be permitted to utter against the abuse of a method of geometrical construction now universally adopted. Hypothetical constructions play a most important part in the modern treatment of elementary geometry, and their value is acknowledged by all. But the chief relief from mental effort which this application readily affords, coupled with the licentious freedom with which they are sometimes employed, is apt to induce slipshod habits of thought exceedingly detrimental to the faculty of clear deduction and reasoning. Quite a substantial number of the candidates who, in answer to question 5, essayed to reproduce the proof of Euclid I 6 given in Godfrey and Siddons's text-book, started off with the fatal assumption that a perpendicular bisector might be dropped from the vertex on the base of the triangle." " Many of the candidates did not seem to have had the necessary drawing-instrument* available." History. " The chief general fault was the introduction of irrelevant matter, and writing round about a subject." "Some of the chief faults and defects that appear in the present examination are: scanty knowledge, especially within the speial period ; inability to manipulate the small stock of knowledge possessed; introduction of irrelevant material; vagueness; inaccurate use of terms ; violation of the commonidioms of English, and inability to use the commonest stops; neglect of the examiner's instructions; and failure to appreciate the meaning of the question asked." " I am quite clear that the majority of those who failed were quite unfit to be presented for any examination in history. Hygiene and Physiology. " The writing was in many cases difficult to read." " It cannot be too strongly insisted upon that for examination purposes all writing should bo clear and easily readable, each word being well separated from its neighbours, and each line kept distinct from those above and below it, and that all flourishes or affected fanciful styles of writing should be strenuously discouraged." " In many cases far too much was written, the candidates evidently thinking that lack of knowledge could be compensated for by an abundance of words " " Diagrams should be simple, clear sketches on the same page as the description applying to them. They ought to be drawn in pencil, not in ink, and distinctive colours used to indicate the various parts." Precis Writing and Correspondence. " Candidates seemed to think that a precis is a more or less condensed reproduction of all the letters. Some even prepared a second docket slightly different from the first, and relied upon the numerals '2 ' or '3 ' to differentiate between precis and docket. Others were unable to distinguish between precis and docket. Others were unable to distinguish between a precis ' giving the substance of the correspondence in narrative form,' and a minute 'briefly setting forth the subject and result of the correspondence.' " Shorthand, " Quite a large number of candidates did not attempt to transcribe more than one-half of their notes, and much that they wrote was so inaccurate that it either conveyed a wrong meaning, at was a mere jumble of unconnected words and phrases. Clearness and accuracy are all-important, and must precede the attempt to acquire speed—even a speed of eighty words a minute. The initial stages require great care, and this must be continued until the signs can be written correctly with almost no conscious mental effort —in other words, until the habit of forming accurate signs is fixed. Practice and perseverance will do the rest," Needlework. " Question No. 4, which required candidates to draw patterns of two under-garments, proved that the majority were not familiar with any system of drafting on sectional paper, and often produced instead of patterns, sketches of garments, or patterns out of all proportion." "... the English was singularly weak, and the spelling of ordinary words, such as 'yoke,' 'collar,' and 'practise,' very inaccurate." Drawing. "Candidates who find that the time allowed for the examination is coming to a close should leave their work in the rough, and not attempt to rub it out preparatory to finishing in clear outline."