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were not of great importance. The health of one of the teachers, however, was unable to stand the strain of the work, and she was obliged to obtain leave of absence for a month. ' There were some changes in the personnel of the teaching staff during the year. At the beginning oi June Miss B. E. Tosswill was appointed to go into training to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Miss H. B. Anthony at the end of 1910. In November Mr. J. S. Hilson, who had been a member of the staff since March, 1907, was transferred to the Special School for Boys at Otekaike, and in the same month Miss E. Kinloch Paul, a lady who had been trained as a teacher of the deaf in England, and who had had considerable experience in teaching there, became a member of our staff. The progress made by the pupils during the year was on the whole very satisfactory. In most cases the results obtained were highly encouraging, and only in one or two instances were they disappointing. It was particularly gratifying to observe marked improvement in the case of some of the more backward pupils. The great majority of the pupils passed with credit through the ordeal of the Inspector's annual examination held in December. Of the ten new pupils admitted during the year, all but one made good progress. The exception was a boy whose mental and physical development was considerably below normal, and whose progress was necessarily much slower than that of the other beginners. Two of these were girls of nearly twelve years of age, who should have been admitted at least five years previously, but had been kept away owing to ignorance. Neither of these girls was stone deaf, and each on admission was able to say, more or less distinctly, a few words. They were able to copy writing, but without comprehension of the meaning of the words copied, and were quite incapable of being educated along with ordinary hearing children. These two cases resemble others that we have had in the past, and emphasize the importance of teachers and other persons notifying the Department of cases of deaf children coming under their notice. This is especially necessary in the case of partial deafness, as the ability of a child to utter a few words is extremely likely to mislead its parents as to the nature of its affliction, and to prevent them from making inquiries in the proper quarter. Another case admitted was that of a girl of fifteen, who was able to speak distinctly, and who had been educated as far as the Third Standard, but whose hearing had become so defective that she could no longer be taught efficiently at the public school she had been attending. Another case was that of an adult, a lady who had become almost completely deaf, and who required training in lip-reading. By the end of the year she had become fairly proficient in the art, although prevented by ill health from attending regularly. Inquiries as to the utility of and the possibility of learning lip-reading are frequently made by deaf persons residing in the Dominion. There is no doubt as to the value of the art to those deaf people who have been able to acquire it. It can most readily be learned by attendance at a school for the deaf, but, unfortunately, in the case of business people, this is seldom possible. In such cases it is necessary to enlist the services of a teacher who has knowledge of the principles of articulation and elocution. Facility in the art demands considerable and regular practice, and depends more on the pupil than on the teacher. The looking-glass is a useful aid, and the deaf person who can get a friend to converse with him for half an hour or more daily will obtain gratifying results in a comparatively short space of time. Information as to methods is difficult to convey by means of writing, but can always be obtained on application at the school. At the end of the year a Maori boy of seventeen, who had been a pupil here for nine years, was transferred to the Government Experimental Farm at Ruakura, to be trained there as a cadet. This course was considered advisable in view of the fact that the boy was an orphan, and the possessor in his own right of about 100 acres of land, which, it is hoped, he will one day be able to farm for himself. On leaving this school he had obtained a fairly good general education, and was able to make himself readily understood by strangers. He was able to read the daily papers, and could express himself fairly well both in speech and in writing. He could milk a cow, and could use a spade, a scythe, and a hay-fork, and also the ordinary carpenter's tools. In addition, he could play a fair game of cricket or football, and could swim well. The acquirements of the four boys who left at about the same time were somewhat similar. None of the girls was sufficiently advanced to be permitted to leave the school. It would be of advantage if it could be arranged for the teeth of the pupils to be periodically inspected and attended to by a qualified dentist. This would, no doubt, result in the mental and physical tone of the pupils being improved, and in their instruction being rendered more efficient, as ■it is evident that children suffering from decayed teeth or from indigestion caused thereby cannot. be satisfactory pupils. The eyesight of the pupils is also a matter of great importance, and I have to thank Dr. Stevenson and Dr. Terras Bell, of Christchurch, for their great kindness in examining and prescribing for those of our pupils who have defective sight. The common belief that when one sense is lacking Nature strengthens the remaining senses in compensation is an erroneous one. By many people it is supposed that the eyesight of the deaf and the touch of the blind are preternaturally acute ; but experiments have shown that this is a popular fallacy, and that where one sense is deficient the others are likely to be more or less affected also. The carrying-on of the work of the school will shortly be greatly facilitated by the erection of a new wing and of an additional story to the servants' quarters at the main building. A contract for the erection of these has been let, and at the time of writing the laying of the foundations is well under way. When these additions are completed the present overcrowded condition of the schoolrooms and of the girls' dormitories will be relieved, and it will be possible to provide for the isolation and the treatment of sick cases. A suitable workshop should be provided at the Boys' Home, so that technical instruction can be carried on better than is possible under present conditions. The rebuilding in brick of the Boys' Home itself is a matter that should also be considered. The present building is an old wooden one, and •cannot be expected to last many more years. Great precautions have to be taken in the use of it to