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health, a credit to both mothers and teachers. We should like to commend the practice of some teachers in carrying out tooth-brush drill, and should like to see the practice extended to a larger number of schools. The girls of some city and suburban schools have had the benefit of a series of valuable health and first-aid lessons given by representatives of the Red Cross Association. Such has been the interest aroused by these lessons that very many of the girls have voluntarily sat for the First-aid Examination and secured certificates. A programme of lessons in temperance is included in all the schemes of work, and, on the whole, the treatment of the subject is satisfactory. Elementary Science and Nature-study. The treatment of these subjects varies considerably. In nature-study it is the attitude of mind more than anything else that counts, and this is contagious. Where the teacher is interested and imbued with the correct spirit, the children are enthusiastic. The pupils must be trained daily to be observant, and to take an active interest in the outer world that surrounds them and of which they themselves are a part. They should, as far as possible, be trained to study the natural phenomena in their natural settings, and for this purpose the pupils must be taken out-of-doors whenever opportunity offers. If this subject is approached in the correct way, a spirit of inquiry will be aroused, and by training the pupils in the use of suitable works of reference the teacher will supply a means of satisfying this spirit of natural curiosity. Occasionally Inspectors find a schemfi including a list of topics the material for the successful treatment of which is unprocurable or unseasonable. Failure must attend such a scheme, because the result can only be an accumulation of facts which cannot be discovered in the right way by the pupils themselves. It is the teacher's business to guide the observation and to help the pupils to draw the correct inference. The pupils' notebooks are often a list of facts dictated by the teacher or copied from the blackboard ; a better training would be afforded if these were a record of the child's own impressions of the directed studies of the class. Careful supervision of all notes is, of course, essential for effective work, as well as for giving the character-training afforded by thoroughness and accuracy. Nature-study has not yet come into its own, but if the young teachers follow the lead given in the training colleges the time should not be far distant when the treatment of the subject will be on sound lines. In the treatment of elementary science there is need to stress the importance of a training in correct, logical reasoning, and the need for clearer and more explicit exposition during the statement of facts observed and inferred. In many schools science work is now closely associated with practical work in the garden-plots, and some very pleasing work has been done in this connection. An interesting development in some schools is the collection of flower and vegetable seeds. This is an activity which might well be extended by groups of schools specializing in certain seeds and by a system of exchange effecting a considerable saving in expense, ill addition to giving a valuable educational training. Optional Subjects in Forms I and 11. The Inspectors have not been impressed with the generality or the effectiveness with which the optional courses have been taken up in Forms I and 11. The best work in French has usually been done in those district high schools where teachers of the secondary department take this subject, and where they are laying, in an interesting way, a foundation for future study in higher forms. In other instances, where the teaching has been inexpert or the standard of English has been low, concentration on the mother-tongue has been recommended. It was never intended that all the pupils of these forms should take up French at this stage, and teachers of large classes have found that the time they can spare for oral work with the best pupils is not sufficient to warrant the introduction of the subject. Optional mathematics is not so widely taught as anticipated or as the value of such studies renders desirable. The opinion that, for pupils who are not intended for academic education, Latin is a more useful study than French, has now many advocates. Junior High Schools. A further year's experience of the junior high school serves but to confirm a previously expressed belief in its effectiveness. The classification of pupils in accordance with native ability and acquired knowledge, made possible by aggregation, the employment of full-time specialist teachers, and the superior equipment, are advantages more immediately apparent; but, in addition, there is the enhanced social and intellectual environment with which the pupil is brought into contact. When pupils are gathered together into the larger centres they are brought into a sphere where there are more opportunities for developing the powers of leadership, and where the brightest of our future citizens may be given the opportunity of working up to the full measure of their capacity. District High Schools. Valuable work is being done, and an honest attempt is being made to break down those traditions which formerly made these departments mere junior copies of city high schools. Wide options are encouraged, so that pupils may have an opportunity of developing along their own particular lines. Much credit is due to teachers who have qualified themselves in a wide range of subjects in order to meet this situation. The continued increase in attendance is probably due to the broadening of the curriculum and the more widespread recognition of the value of secondary education. The adoption of two main courses, academic and commercial, tends to group the pupils largely in accordance with

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