MAY 7.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 1985

as qualifying service unless it has been submitted to the Marine Department and its sanction obtained.

Regulation 127 is hereby revoked, and the following regulation is hereby made in lieu thereof:—

127. When service in charge of a watch in either the foreign or home trade is specified in the regulations, candidates for certificates of competency as first mate must be able to prove that during eight months at least of their service they have kept full regular watch during the whole voyage (i.e., from port to port), which, if in the foreign trade, must amount to not less than eight hours of each twenty-four hours’ service. Where a candidate can prove eight months of such full service, service performed in cases where watches were doubled at any time during the voyage will be accepted as equivalent to half the same period of full watch-keeping service. No amount of occasional service will, by itself, be accepted as qualifying service. Candidates for certificates of competency as master will be required to have served, during the whole of the time specified by the regulations, in full charge of a watch, and no service performed under the system of double watches except as the senior officer will be accepted as qualifying service for a certificate of this grade. Great care must be exercised by the Examiners and others in regard to such service, and unless the candidate produces a clear and satisfactory testimonial specially setting forth the above facts from the master or owner of the vessel in which the service was performed it must not be accepted.

Appendix A is hereby revoked, and the following substituted in lieu thereof:—

APPENDIX A.

THE SIGHT TESTS.

These tests must be conducted under the strict personal supervision of the Examiner. A careful record must be kept of all mistakes made by the candidate in the form vision test, and on no account whatever must a candidate be allowed to make his selections in the colour vision test during any temporary absence of the Examiner.

Each Examiner must keep a record of all candidates passed by him for reference when required.

1. Form Vision Test.

(1.) Form Vision Test to be passed first.—The first test which the candidate is required to undergo is the test for form vision, and until he has passed this test he must not be allowed to proceed further with the examination.

(2.) Apparatus used.—The form vision test to be used for all candidates is that conducted on Snellen’s principle by means of sheets of letters. Sets of eight of these sheets are supplied to Examiners.

(3.) Object of the Test.—The object of the form vision test is to determine whether the candidate can reach a sufficient standard of visual acuteness, or, in other words, to find out whether his eyesight is good or bad.

(4.) Standard of Vision required.—With the exceptions indicated below (see paragraph 8), every candidate for a first certificate of competency will be required to possess normal vision. Every candidate for a second or higher certificate will be required to possess normal vision.

“Normal vision” is defined, for the purpose of these regulations, as ability to read correctly nine of the twelve letters in the sixth line and eight of the fifteen letters in the seventh line of a test sheet placed in a good light at a distance of 16 ft. from the eye.

(5.) Spectacles not allowed.—During the examination for form vision candidates must not be allowed to use spectacles or glasses of any kind, or any other artificial aid to vision.

(6.) Method of Testing.—The test sheets should be hung on the wall, in a good light, but not in direct sunlight, at a height of 5 ft. or 6 ft. from the ground. The candidate should be placed at a distance of exactly 16 ft. from the sheets, and exactly opposite them. This distance should be carefully measured, and should never in any circumstances be varied.

One of the sheets should be exposed, and the candidate should be asked to read the letters on each sheet, beginning at the top and going downwards. Any mistakes which he makes should be carefully noted. If then it is found that he has read correctly at least nine letters in the sixth line and eight letters in the seventh line of a sheet, the candidate may be considered to have normal vision, and the entry “5/5” should be made in the appropriate column of the form of application (Exn. 2 or Exn. 2A, as the case may be).

(7.) Passing or Failure.—If at the conclusion of the test the candidate is found to reach the required standard, he may be considered to have passed, and the Examiner should proceed to test him for colour vision. If the candidate fails to reach the standard required for the certificate entered for, he should be tested with at least four sheets, and the Examiner should fill in a form Exn. 17B, and should forward it, with any remarks he may wish to make, to the Principal Examiner for his instructions as to whether the candidate is to be regarded as passing or as failing in form vision.

(8.) Lower Standard required in certain Cases.—Candidates who are in possession of certificates obtained before the 1st June, 1914, may be regarded as having passed in form vision if they can read correctly with both eyes at least five of the eight letters in the fifth line of a test sheet.

(9.) Tests to be varied.—The Examiner should take care, by varying the order of the test sheets and by every other means in his power, to guard against the possibility of any deception on the part of the candidate.

(10.) Result of Examination to be reported.—The result of every examination in form vision should be reported, in the case of a candidate for a certificate of competency, to the Marine Department on form Exn. 2, and to the Principal Examiner of Masters and Mates on form Exn. 14; and, in the case of a candidate for the sight tests, only to the Marine Department on form Exn. 2B.

2. Colour Vision Tests.

(1.) The Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the Board of Trade Sight Tests have recommended that certain modifications should be made in the wool test hitherto used, and that in addition a lantern test should be used in examining all candidates. The Marine Department have decided to carry into effect these recommendations, and the following instructions will therefore, on and after 1st June, 1914, supersede those contained in the previous edition of the Regulations relating to the Examination of Masters and Mates, in so far as the colour vision test is concerned.

SIGHT TESTS.

I. The Wool Test.

(1.) The wools provided are divided into five groups, one to each test skein. The test skeins are labelled respectively I (light green), II (pink), III (brown), IV (purple), and V (yellow), and must always be used in the order named. Care should be taken that the labels do not become detached nor the skeins belonging to the different groups get mixed. To avoid this only one group of skeins should be exposed on the table at one time.

A special bag with five pockets is provided in which the wools, when not in use, must be kept in order that they may not become faded or dirty.

(2.) The examination in the wool test should be conducted as follows:—

The first group of wools is placed in a heap upon a table covered with a white cloth and the first test skein a little to one side of it, care being taken that no strong sunlight falls directly upon the skeins. The person examined should be requested to note carefully the colour of the test skein and then to divide the group into two parts, one part consisting of those skeins which have the same colour as the test skein in them and the other part the skeins which have none of the test skein colour in them. The Examiner should explain that there is no exact match for the test skein, as the skeins which contain this colour are all either lighter or darker, and that the only question is the division of those skeins which contain the test colour more or less from those which do not. No difficulty should be experienced in explaining to the candidate what he is required to do, but if the Examiner thinks he has not grasped what is required he may himself divide the heap into two parts as a demonstration, mixing the skeins up again thoroughly before allowing the candidate to do the test.

(3.) When the candidate has dealt with the first test skein each of the four remaining tests should be gone through in a similar manner and in the order named.

(4.) As the examination proceeds the Examiner should place on one side the skeins which the candidate has wrongly selected as either resembling or not resembling the test skeins, and when the examination is finished a small piece (say one inch) should be cut off every one of the actual skeins incorrectly selected by the candidate, and stitched to Form Exn. 17c under the proper heading in the spaces provided for each test.

(5.) The greatest care must be taken that the pieces forwarded are cut off the actual skeins selected by the candidate, in order that there may be a reliable record of the actual selections made by the candidate if any question should subsequently arise.

(6.) During this test the Examiner should avoid naming the colours of any of the wools, and should explain to the candidate that he does not require them to be named by him.

(7.) The wool test should only be held in daylight. If a good natural light is not obtainable the test must be postponed. If dark or foggy weather renders it necessary to postpone the examination until after the examination in navigation or seamanship has been begun, the Examiner should not fail