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THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
No. 7

Quarries; a few common rocks, minerals, and fossils; typical volcanic rocks contrasted with stratified rocks and metamorphic or altered rocks (specimens should be handled by the children). Coal. Quartz. Shingle of rivers and of the seashore. Clay; bricks and tiles. Building-stone. Pottery. Glass. Mortar; cement. Road-metal. The air; oxygen; carbonic acid. Vapour-clouds. The thermometer and temperature. Ventilation. Winds. The barometer. Frost and heat. The weather; weather-charts. Rainfall. Hydrometer. Milk; cream; curds; whey; cheese; tests for milk; separators. The pump; siphon; fire-engine. Pressure of water; artesian wells; use of a head of water. Density; flotation. Mechanics in everyday-life: levers, pulleys, steam. Physics: expansion of solids, liquids, and gases when heated; magnetic compass. Solutions. Solvents: water, alcohol. Crystals. Common elements and compounds: sulphur, iron, common salt, soda, saltpetre, mercury, tin, zinc, lead. Distillation; filtration. Fire. Candle. Coal-gas. Tar. Kerosene and kerosene-lamps. Sun, moon, planets, stars, meteors, comets. Tides. Eclipses. The seasons. The sea and the sea-shore. Outdoor studies in geography. Land-measuring. Natural history calendars; weather calendars; astronomical calendars; &c.

Some of these subjects may be taken in junior classes; others are suitable only for senior classes; others, again, may be taken twice, three times, or even oftener in the school course—at first in a simple manner, afterwards in a way suited to the more mature powers of observation of older children. Natural-history calendars of a simple character might be kept as early as Standard II. Weather calendars might begin in Standard IV. (The school should be equipped for this purpose with a thermometer, maximum and minimum by preference, and a rain-gauge; also, if possible, with a barometer.)

Of course, no school will attempt all the subjects that are suggested above. Lessons will be arranged for various schools according to the tastes and acquirements of the teachers, and should in all cases have immediate reference to the local surroundings.

HEALTH.

50. Lessons on the structure of the body and on health.

These should include such subjects as the following, treated in a very simple manner: The chief bones of the skeleton, and the way in which they form a framework for the body; tendons and muscles; the skin; the heart, the blood, and the general system of circulation; food and drink, digestion, the stomach and intestines; the lungs; the liver; the kidneys; the nerves; the brain; the eye; the sense of touch; the outer ear; the throat and nose. Air, ventilation and respiration; water, washing, and cleaning; the choice of clothing, food and drinks; the management of health; exercise; the avoidance of evil and unhealthy habits; infectious diseases; vaccination; methods of dealing with common ailments, colds, and common accidents.

The lessons on the structure of the body are intended not as a course in physiology, but solely to serve the practical purpose of an introduction to such a knowledge of the laws of health as every individual of the community ought to possess: e.g., the study of the eye need not include a knowledge of all its parts, if it be known to act as a lens through which the rays of light pass and, forming an image on the retina, convey a visual impression to the brain. (The care of the eye should receive some notice.)

The instruction may be given partly in the science lessons, and partly in special oral lessons, or in lessons contained in the reading-books of the higher standards. If this be done, it will not be necessary to allot a separate place for the subject on the time-table.

HISTORY AND CIVIC INSTRUCTION; COURSE A.

51. The requirements of this subject shall be held to be satisfied by the use of reading-books embracing the topics named, if explanation of and questions on the subject-matter form part of the lessons in connection with these reading-books.

STANDARDS III. TO VI.

A course of lessons should be drawn up by the teacher to cover some or all of the ground indicated by the following list, and to occupy in the aggregate at least eighty hours. The lessons should be spread continuously over two, three, or four years; they need not be taken in every year. (The parts in italics must in any case be included in the course drawn up.) Britains and Romans. Coming of the English and the Northmen into Britain. Introduction of Christianity. Alfred the Great. The Norman Conquest and its chief effect on English language, social life, and