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equipment which a few years ago would have been deemed unnecessarily luxurious, are essential if the springs of New Zealand are to maintain and increase their reputation. In Australia the local hot mineral springs are already beginning to receive attention, and while they cannot for a moment compete with the Rotorua waters in point of chemical activity, they have the great advantage of easier accessibility from the great centres of population of Australia. It is hardly necessary to point out at this stage the financial importance to this country of the great and growing annual Australian influx to our springs, and no reasonable effort should be spared in securing our at present unquestioned supremacy. In dealing with the unique and potent acid waters, many unusual difficulties have had to be overcome, one of the principal of which has been the difficulty of finding piping and cement which will neither be injuriously affected by these waters nor react deleteriously on them. The acid waters will be supplied from a hitherto unused spring, very much stronger than the Priest and nearly as strong as the Postmaster, the relative proportions of sulphuric acid being—Priest, 3'7gr. per gallon; new spring, 16'8gr. ; Postmaster, 222 gr. Owing to an alteration in the pumping scheme, a space reserved for machinery under the central hall will be left vacant, and I would suggest its utilisation for the mud baths. Very slight structural additions would be needed for this purpose, and the considerable expense of a special wing could thus be averted, or, at any rate, postponed. The section of the building now nearing completion contains, in addition to the departments for special treatment —douche massage, electrical, vapour, &c. —the administrative block and a large number of private baths, so that no one, whatever kind of mineral water he may require, need bathe in public, or in water polluted by his fellow-bathers. The central hall will, in addition to its use as a pump-room, serve for recreative purposes as a concert-hall and winter-garden. Recreation. —In this respect Rotorua is fortunate in possessing a unique combination of natural attractions, weirdly wonderful thermal phenomena, and a chain of lakes affording not only beautiful scenery but unrivalled fishing, while the public gardens, with their lawns and playing-greens, grow year by year more charming. But these are recreations presupposing fine weather and a moderate physical well-being. For the invalid, and for the tourist in wet weather, some further provision for amusement is required, and I would most strongly urge the importance of the need for good music all day and every day, in the gardens when fine and under cover in bad weather. The fine central hall of the new bath buildings has been especially designed to serve such a purpose, there being ample room in its broad galleries for both orchestra and audience; it will thus combine the main features of the British Pump-room and the Continental Kursaal. Such concerts in the buildings might be made self-supporting by season tickets, and the pumproom and winter-garden would constitute a much-needed rendezvous for visitors. The Sanatorium.--The most noticeable feature of the year has been the entire disproportion between the demand for male and female beds. On the male side the accommodation has been entirely inadequate, while on the female side the ward has often been empty for weeks together, and urgently needed beds have been lying idle. Plans for increasing the accommodation are now in hand, and I am suggesting the advisability of diverting both the present wards to the accommodation of male patients and reserving a new cubicled ward for women. As a consequence of this disproportion between the number of male and female applicants, although there has been an almost unprecedented number of patients applying for admission, the total receipts are considerably below those of last year. The emergency ward for the reception of urgent cases has been practically never empty, and for some considerable time the pressure was so great that I had to accommodate surgical cases in tents, and it is quite obvious that the question of hospital accommodation for the Rotorua district must very soon be seriously faced. This ward has very gi-eatly increased the work of the staff, and I wish to record my appreciation of the ungrudging services of the House Surgeon, Matron, and nurses. Should the present pressure on the surgical side prove to be normal or increasing, it will be necessary to add another nurse to the staff. Out-patients. —The number of patients who have consulted me during the year has increased, as is shown by the increased receipts; but a special feature of the out-patient work is the number of patients who, disappointed of obtaining admission to the Sanatorium, and unable to afford treatment in the ordinary way, have been given free baths or medical attendance, or both. For the first, time a record of the free medical attendance has been kept, and this represents consultations to the value of £235 2s. 6d., while free baths, massage, and electrical treatment have been given to the value of £88 7s. 3d. I think it is hardly realised how much is now being done by this Department, in addition to the Sanatorium treatment, for invalids who are unable otherwise to afford a course of the waters. '" Nationality of Out-patients. —The proportion of patients residing in New Zealand to those coming from outside the country works out at approximately the same figures as last year—viz., New Zealand, 70 per cent. : Australia, 20 per cent. : Great Britain, 5 per cent. ; other countries, 5 per cent. Maori Out-patients. —The work among the Maoris continues to increase, but I think the grant of free medical attendance should be carefully looked into, as there are cases where those attended to can well afford to pay. The poor and necessitous cases should of course be continued. Baths Staff.' —Further development has taken place along the lines of the scheme proposed last year,