Aug. 1.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 1577

Light.

Propagation and velocity of light; pencils and rays, pin-hole images; illuminating power; intensity of light; shadows and penumbræ; eclipses; photometry. Reflection of light; irregular reflection; formation of images in a plane mirror, in parallel and in inclined mirrors: reflection of light from curved surfaces; determination of the principal focus of spherical, concave, and convex mirrors; real and virtual images; conjugate foci. Refraction; refractive index; total reflection; transmission of light through a plate, a prism, and a lens; convex and concave lenses; determination of the principal focus; real and virtual images; conjugate foci; geometrical methods of finding the position of a small object in front of a plane mirror or on the axis of a mirror or lens; relative sizes of an object and its image formed by mirrors and lenses. Composition of light; colour.

Heat.

Sources and nature of heat; distinction between temperature and heat; effects of heat. Thermometry; construction of mercurial thermometers and methods of ascertaining the fixed points. Expansion of solids; determination of the coefficient of linear expansion of a solid; effects and applications of unequal expansion. Real and apparent expansion of liquids; determination of the coefficient of apparent expansion of mercury; expansion of water. Expansion of gases; determination of the coefficient of expansion of gases; the air thermometer. Transmission of heat; conduction in solids and liquids; the safety lamp; convection in liquids and gases; hot-water heating systems; ocean currents; ventilation. Laws of fusion and solidification; determination of melting-points and of the latent heat of water; effects of change of volume. Evaporation and boiling; the laws of boiling, and the causes affecting evaporation and boiling-points of liquids; determination of boiling points, and of the latent heat of steam. The unit of heat; capacity for heat; specific heat; methods of finding the specific heat of solids and liquids; consequences of the high specific heat of water. Radiation, emission, absorption, and reflection of radiation. Newton’s law of cooling.

(18.) Magnetism and Electricity.—

Magnetism.

Natural and artificial magnets, their parts and properties; tests of permanent magnetization; mutual action of the poles of two bar magnets of equal strength; astatic system; methods of magnetization; notion of a molecular magnet; breaking a magnetized needle; magnetization of a tube of filings; intermediate poles; effects of concussion, heat, and corrosion on a magnet; magnetic saturation; coercive force; retentivity; laws of magnetic force; unit magnet pole; the magnetic field and lines of force; magnetic influence; keepers, and their use; action of a strong magnet on a weak magnetic needle near it; intensity of field and of magnetization; magnetic moment; permeability and susceptibility; graphic representation of the distribution of free magnetism along a bar magnet, and of the lines of force due to a bar magnet, to a horse-shoe magnet without and with its keeper, to various groups of bar magnets, and to pieces of soft iron in the field of a strong magnet; law of oscillations; use of method of oscillations in (1) comparing the force of the earth’s magnetism at a place with that of a magnet at the same place, (2) comparing the strength of two magnets, (3) examining the surface distribution along a bar magnet. Terrestrial magnetism; declination and mariner’s compass; inclination and the dip needle; determination of the magnetic meridian, and of the dip at a place; the magnetic elements of a place; the explanation of the behaviour of a compass-needle and of a dip-needle at various places on the earth’s surface; magnetization of a steel bar under the influence of the earth’s magnetism.

Statical Electricity.

Two kinds of electrification, their simultaneous and equal development, and their mutual reactions; conductors and non-conductors; electrification by contact; influence of a charged body on earth-connected and on insulated bodies; “free” and “bound” electricity. Gold-leaf electroscope, its electrification by contact and by influence; the interpretation of its indications; its use in examining the seat and distribution of charges on solid and on hollow conductors of various shapes. The electrophorus and frictional electrical machine; the action of points. Laws of electric action; electrostatic units; capacity; potential; the relation between the quantity of electricity and the capacity and potential of a charged sphere; surface density; energy of discharge; the use of the electroscope in examining (1) the effect of alteration of the area of a charged body on the density of its charge, (2) the disturbance of the distribution of the charge on a body produced by the presence of another charged body, (3) the electrical condition of a hollow conductor enclosing a charged insulated body; electric screens; subdivision and redistribution of charges on spheres of equal and of different radii after contact. Theory of condensers, as illustrated by the simple condenser and the condenser with movable coats. The Leyden jar; conditions on which its capacity depends; its charge and discharge; the seat of the charge.

Current Electricity.

The parts of, and chemical action within a simple voltaic cell; polarization, its cause and effects; the chief voltaic cells; conditions which a good cell should fulfil; Ohm’s law, and its simple applications; absolute and practical units; the total and available electromotive force in a circuit; combinations of cells to form batteries; magnetic effect of the current. The astatic and tangent galvanometers and their use; magnetic properties of a coiled conductor; Maxwell’s rule; mutual action between (1) two coils, (2) a coil and a magnet; De la Rive’s floating battery; the magnetic circuit; electro-magnets; graphic representation of lines of force due to a solenoid and to an electro-magnet. Conductance and resistance of wires; resistance of conductors in series and in parallel, shunts; Wheatstone’s bridge and its use. Development and distribution of heat in a circuit; Joule’s law; electric lamps. Chemical effect of the current; electrolysis of water, of hydrochloric acid, and of the sulphates of sodium and copper; voltmeters and their use; energy and power of the current; available and wasted power.

(19.) Chemistry.—The three states of matter; indestructibility of matter. Physical changes compared with chemical changes. Difference between mechanical mixtures and chemical compounds. Phenomena of chemical action; conditions necessary for and influencing chemical action. The metric system. Elements and compounds. Modes of chemical action: direct union, displacement, mutual exchange, decomposition. Effects of pressure and temperature on gases; Boyle’s and Charles’s laws. Estimation of the weight of an element in a given weight of one of its compounds, of the weight of an element required to displace another from a compound, and of the weight of known volumes of gases. Combining weights; laws of combination of elements in definite and in multiple proportions by weight; laws of gaseous combination of elements and compounds; atoms and molecules, their relative weights; the atomic theory; Avogadro’s law; meaning and use of symbols, formulæ, and equations; valency; graphic formulæ; calculations of quantities by volume and by weight. Production and properties of oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. Air, its properties, the exact determination of its composition; the constituents of the atmosphere; estimation of the amounts of aqueous vapour and of carbonic dioxide. Water, its properties; solution and crystallization; hard and soft water; determination of the composition of water by volume and by weight; production and properties of ozone and of peroxide of hydrogen. The production and properties of chlorine, hydrochloric acid, ammonia, oxides of nitrogen, nitric acid. Definition and general properties of oxides, acids, alkalis, and bases; the basicity of acids and classification of salts. The physical and chemical properties of the various forms of carbon, sulphur, and phosphorus; the production of the two latter on the large scale; the production and properties of the oxides of the three elements just named; the production and properties of sulphuretted hydrogen, of bisulphide of carbon, of sulphuric acid (manufacture not required), and of phosphoric acid. Experimental determination of the composition of HCl., NH₃, CO₂, SH₂. The halogens, their physical and chemical properties compared; the production of iodine on the large scale; the combinations of the halogens with hydrogen. Production and properties of light and heavy carburetted hydrogen; coal-gas; combustion; flame: oxidizing and reducing agents. General properties of metals and non-metals. Physical and chemical properties of sodium, potassium, calcium, zinc, magnesium, iron, copper, lead, mercury, and silver; the properties of their more important oxides and salts.

(20.) Agricultural Chemistry.—

The atmosphere, rain, dew, their composition.

Soils.—The origin, formation, and mechanical analysis of soils; the physical properties of soils; the chemical and physical properties of the constituents of soils; the effects on soils of weathering, of vegetable and animal life, and of tillage; the oxidation of organic matter in soils; the active or available and the dormant or reserve soil-constituents; the conditions necessary for the formation of the active from the dormant constituents, or promoting this formation.

Manures.—Definition of manures; the principles governing their use; the properties and composition of the chief general, artificial, and manufactured manures: fermentation.

Plants.—The organic and inorganic constituents; the proportions of water and solid matter. The ash of plants; the essential, non-essential, and useful ash-constituents; differences in the composition of the ash of grain and of straw or leaf. General composition of farm crops; chemical elements in the plant obtained from the air and from the soil; chemical actions in different parts of the plant; effects of light and heat; chemical changes during germination.

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