The session will last for six months continuously, during the entire course of which Instruction will be given to each class by the Professor, by means of Text Books, Lectures, and oral and written examinations.

Matriculation fee £1.

The fee for each Class is Three Guineas per session. Intending students and persons desirous of obtaining information regarding matriculation, &c., &c., are requested to communicate with

A. LIVINGSTON, Secretary.

TO SCHOOL COMMITTEES AND SCHOOL TEACHERS.

THE following Minutes of the Education Board are circulated for the information of the School Committees and School Teachers in connection with the Board.

By order, JOHN HISLOP, Secretary.

Education Office, Dunedin, January 22, 1872.

Dunedin, January 18, 1872.

The Board took into consideration (1) the Report of the Select Committee of the Provincial Council on the Petitions of Roman Catholic Inhabitants of the Province, Session XXIX; (2), a Resolution of the Provincial Council, Session XXIX, relating to the said Report and Petitions; and (3), a Memorandum on the same subject by the Provincial Secretary.

It was resolved :-

(1). That the Schoolmasters and other Teachers employed under the Board be enjoined to adhere strictly to the terms of the Education Ordinance 1864, in regard to the Reading of the Bible and Religious Instruction, to take care that both Parents and Children be informed that attendance at such reading or instruction is optional, and to avoid the use of any lessons containing words or expressions offensive to Roman Catholics or other denominations of Christians.

(2). That the Secretary be instructed to take steps, in conjunction with School Committees and Teachers, to secure the use of such Class books in the Public Schools as shall give the least possible offence to Roman Catholics and other denominations of Christians.

(3). That the Board express their appreciation of the prudent and fair manner in which they believe the School Committees and Teachers have generally acted in the past in reference to the reading of the Bible, and the imparting of religious instruction in the Public Schools.

(4). That a copy of these Resolutions be forwarded to every School Committee and every Teacher connected with the Board.

Dunedin, January 20th, 1872.

The Board, taking into account the increasing number of applications coming before them for the establishment of Schools and the appointment of additional Teachers, and also the largely increasing cost of maintaining the Educational Establishments of the Province, are of opinion that a thorough revision of the whole of the Educational arrangements should be made immediately after the compilation of the Returns for the year 1871, and instruct the Secretary to proceed forthwith with the compilation of the said Returns, to inform the School Committees and Teachers connected with the Board of the intention to make such revision, and to intimate to them that, in the event of such revision showing that schools are in existence where the attendance of pupils, proximity to other schools, or other circumstances warrant their discontinuance or a reduction of the allowances at present paid to them, the Board will not guarantee the continuance of the present payments on account of salaries or other allowances beyond the 30th day of September, 1872.

JOHN HISLOP, Secretary.

PROVINCIAL SCHOLARSHIPS.

THE Education Board has authorized the offering of Three Scholarships for competition; one for High School Pupils, and two for Boys who attended the District Schools in 1871. The examination will probably take place in February. Particulars will be given in next issue.

By order, JOHN HISLOP, Secretary.

MOUNT HAMILTON COAL AND SHALE.

NEW ZEALAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.—LABORATORY.—CLASS, COAL AND SHALE.

Results of Analysis of Specimens No. 1105 a, b. Forwarded by G. Webster, Esq., M.H.R. Locality, Mt. Hamilton, Otago. Received, 14th September, 1871; reported on, 16th October, 1871.

1105 (a).—BITUMINOUS COAL

Of excellent quality, quite equal to N. S. Wales coal. A massive black, lustrous coal, highly laminated and shaley, fragile, homogeneous, color of powder brown. Burns with a very smoky flame, yielding in close vessels a strongly coherent coke of dull appearance; color of ash very light buff.

Approximate Analysis.

Water ... 1.58

Fixed Carbon 49.01

Hydro-Carbon 39.61

Ash ... 9.80

100.00

1105 (b)—BITUMINOUS SHALE.

Very hard and coherent, of dull appearance and quite homogeneous. It burns with some difficulty, evolving much smoky flame. The quantity of carbonaceous matter is 52.9 per cent.

Approximate Analysis.

Water ... 1.30

Fixed Carbon 20.50

Hydro-Carbon 32.40

Ash ... 45.80

100.00

N.B.—The difference between the proportion of hydro to fixed carbon in this and the coal, No 1105 (a), is very marked. The percentage of ash is too high in this sample to allow of its being profitably employed as an oil shale or gas shale. Thus, the Hartley shale of N. S. Wales contains only 13 per cent. of ash; the Torbane Hill shale, in Scotland, 19 to 24 per cent.; the Bucken Ridge shale, 8 per cent.; and the Albert Co., United States shale, 7 per cent. I think, from the information which accompanies the specimen, that a search should be made in the gullies by laying bare the surface of the rocks in favorable situations; but there is nothing to lead me to recommend boring, which would be very costly and unsatisfactory in such a formation. The formation is the same as that of Waikava and Otapiri, as far as I was able to judge from a personal inspection of it some years ago.

JAMES HECTOR.

18th October, 1871.