The students who attempted this question generally gave their answers accurately. In a few instances the Ziervogel process was not given for converting the silver in a pyritic ore into sulphate, and some did not mention the possibility of having to add more pyritic material in order that the roasting should be effective.

SECTION IV.

Q. 33. How would you smelt copper refinery slag in order to obtain the copper it contains? Explain the chemical changes which take place by equations.

Only attempted by 16 candidates, of whom only seven gave passably good answers. Most of the students preferred to treat the slag in the fourth operation of the Welsh copper process, for the production of "white metal." In only two cases was the possibility of smelting in a blast furnace mentioned.

Q. 34. Describe and make a sketch of a modern barrel converter for Bessemerising copper regulus. Give a brief account of the working of a charge.

Some good answers. Several candidates described an ordinary vertical converter with bottom tuyères, and lost marks accordingly.

Q. 35. State fully the conditions which are essential in distilling zinc ores in order to obtain the zinc as metal. Why cannot a blast furnace be used instead of retorts?

Many candidates enumerated the essential conditions for the distillation of zinc ores satisfactorily, but they failed to show why it is practically impossible to use a blast furnace instead of retorts. A few only mentioned the facts that both carbon dioxide and air will oxidise volatilised zinc and that the large quantity of escaping gases from a blast furnace would render the condensation of the zinc as metal impossible.

Q. 36. Give an account of the physical properties, composition, and chief uses of the following alloys :-Muntz metal, German silver, soft solder, and ferro-nickel.

Only ten satisfactory answers were given to this question. It is surprising to note that several candidates in this stage had no idea of the compositions of the four simple alloys given in the question: several thought Muntz's metal was composed of copper and tin, while others thought soft solder was composed of lead and zinc.

STAGE 3.

Results 1st Class, 12; 2nd Class, 21; Failed, 25; Total, 58.

There is an increase of 8 in the number of papers sent ir as compared with last year, and it is satisfactory to note that there is a marked improvement in the quality of the answers of the candidates generally. The weakest point in all the papers, with two or three exceptions, was the recognition of metallurgical materials (Q. 42). This was deplorably bad, although the specimens were all extremely characteristic, and comprised only materials in every-day occurrence in works. It was even worse than in Stage 2.

In the answers to the other questions, obsolete processes and plant occurred much less frequently than hitherto.

SECTION I.

Q. 40. State fully the physical characters and composition which coke should possess for use in a blast furnace smelting iron ores for Bessemer pig.

The answers as a rule were only moderately good. No mention was made in many papers of ash and phosphorus, and the percentages of carbon given in some can only have been mere guesswork.

9291.

L 2

Q. 41. How would you proceed to obtain a continuous record of the variations in temperature of a reverberatory furnace! Describe

the pyrometer you would employ and state how you would calibrate it.

Several good answers, but the majority of candidates can never have seen, and certainly not used, a recording pyrometer.

Q. 42. Name and briefly describe the six specimens submitted to you. Attention has been called above to the extremely bad answers to this question.

The following examples will suffice to show the ignorance of some of the candidates :

Copper refinery slag containing shots of copper was variously named copper regulus, tap cinder, brown hæmatite, tinstone, white cast iron, iron pyrites and mispickel; while coarse metal was said to be cinnabar, ferromanganese, grey slag from lead smelting, zinc blende, steel furnace slag, tap cinder, magnetite, wolfram, tinstone, &c.

If candidates would only try the hardness of the specimens, as has been already pointed out under Stage 2, most of these glaring mistakes would not be made.

19 candidates recognised only one of the six specimens and 10 failed to recognise any.

SECTION II.

Q. 43. Describe and make sketches of the lower half of a modern blast furnace for smelting iron ores, showing two methods of cooling the boshes.

This easy question was attempted by only about one-third of the candidates. There were a few excellent answers, but the others showed a very imperfect acquaintance with the construction of a modern watercooled bosh.

Q. 44. Describe the manufacture of steel as carried on in a tilting furnace by a continuous process. State the chemical changes which take place from charging to tapping.

Generally well answered.

Q. 45. How are malleable iron castings produced? Explain exactly why the final treatment, to which the castings are subjected, renders them malleable.

The method of preparing malleable iron castings was generally given correctly, but the cause of the malleability was in too many answers attributed solely to the removal of carbon and not to the change of the carbon from the combined to the finely graphitic state.

SECTION III.

Q. 47. Give a brief account of the cyanide plant you would erect, and the treatment you would adopt for the extraction of gold from an ore, the whole of which has been ground to slimes.

Answers very poor; only 7 candidates out of 30 who attempted the question obtained more than half marks. The treatment of gold ores by the cyanide method and the arrangement of the plant is evidently very imperfectly taught in most schools. The majority of the candidates had no knowledge of either the decantation or the filter press method, and confused the treatment of slimes with that of sands. Impracticable arrangements of the plant were sketched. Some gave ferrous sulphate as the precipitant for the gold.

Q. 48. Describe and make a sectional sketch of the lower half of a modern rectangular water-jacketed furnace for smelting lead ores. How does the hearth differ from that of a copper smelting blast furnace ?

Rarely attempted. Answers with two exceptions very bad. In some cases a poor drawing of a copper furnace was given At this stage all students ought to be well acquainted with the form and construction of typical modern water-jacketed furnaces used in copper smelting and lead smelting respectively.

SECTION IV.

Q. 49. State as fully as possible the conditions which are essential to success in the "pyritic" or "raw sulphide" smelting of copper

ores.

Somewhat less than half of the candidates attempted this question, and the answers, with a few exceptions, were extremely disappointing.

This important smelting process appears not to have been taught in many schools, or if taught, the teaching is far from efficient. As the process is now coming extensively into use wherever the ores are pyritic, and is rapidly replacing the old methods on account of its greater economy, all students at this stage ought to be well acquainted with it, and especially with the conditions under which it can be successfully employed.

Q. 50. State fully how you would treat, on a large scale, "white metal" containing 10 ozs. of gold per ton, in order to obtain the gold and the copper in marketable forms. If the white metal contained 100 ozs. of silver per ton, in addition to the gold, how would you proceed?

This question on practical work was attempted by rather less than onethird of the candidates and was fairly well answered.

Q. 51. Describe the Mond (nickel carbonyl) process for the extraction of nickel from a copper nickel matte.

The chief errors in the answers were :-treating the matte with water gas without previous calcination, and changing the copper nickel oxide into the volatilizer without previous reduction,

HONOURS.

Results 1st Class, 2; 2nd Class, 1; Failed, 7; Total, 10.

PAPER 1.

There were only 10 candidates, the number last year being 16. Eight were examined in Section II. Iron and Steel, and two in Section III.: Gold, Silver, Lead, &c.

Four only in Section II. obtained sufficient marks to qualify them for admission to the practical examination and the examination in Paper II.

The average standard of attainment of the whole of the candidates was practically the same as last year, but the average of the qualifying marks obtained by those who passed the examination in this paper was much lower, and closely approached the minimum required.

The greatest weakness was shown in the answers to the questions on working drawings and on the microstructure of steel.

None of the candidates had a clear understanding of what is meant by working drawings. They are the drawings which are required by the furnace builder to enable him to erect a furnace, and for a reverberatory furnace usually comprise the following:

1. Vertical section on the median line.

2. Horizontal section at the datum line and plan of the foundations.

3. Vertical transverse section at the widest part of the bed.

4. Vertical transverse section through the firebox.

5. Front elevation.

6. Side elevation.

7. Plan.

PRACTICAL.

STAGE 1.

Results 1st Class, 36; 2nd Class, 41; Failed, 20; Total, 97.

The number of papers sent in for this stage was practically the same as last year, there being 97 papers as compared with 99 in 1906. The standard attained by the majority of the candidates was good, while those who failed to pass showed a better knowledge of the subject than those who failed last year. Thirty-six qualified for the First, and forty-one for the Second Class.

In the preparation of the alloys, a number of the candidates were evidently unsuccessful owing to the furnaces at their disposal not giving a sufficiently high temperature for alloying the copper and iron in the copper-zinc-iron alloy, and the copper and nickel in the copper-nickel-zinc alloy, which they had to prepare.

It is possible that in some instances the low temperature may have been due to the furnaces not being prepared for the candidates before the hour of the examination. In all laboratories, especially those in which the draught of the chimneys is not particularly good, the fires should be lighted some time before the commencement of the examination.

In a number of instances in the preparation of the copper-zinc-iron and the copper-zinc-nickel alloys, the results were masses of metal with pieces of iron or nickel distributed through them. Some candidates did not cover their metal with carbon, during the fusion, while a few used coke as a covering, but this cannot be considered satisfactory.

As was also the case last year, many of the samples of metal were not properly cast, and in others the fractured surfaces indicated that the ingredients had not been weighed in the proper proportions before melting.

The preparation of coke from the samples of coal supplied was well done by most of the candidates, but in some cases the temperature at which the coking had been performed was too low. The results of the examination show, however, a general improvement on those of last year.

STAGE 2.

Results 1st Class, 30; 2nd Class, 48; Failed, 38; Total, 116.

The number of papers sent in showed an increase of 27 on those of last

year.

The exercises given were as follows:

(C) Extract the silver, by a dry method, from the German silver supplied.

(D) Extract the lead from the ore-galena and zinc-blende supplied.

(CC) Extract the silver from the "hard" lead supplied.

(DD) Extract the lead from the "grey" slag supplied.

Exercises C and CC were, as a rule, correctly carried out, although, in the case of the latter, the impurities were not always removed by scorification. Some candidates did not give sufficient attention to the temperature necessary for the cupellation of the lead for silver, and many did not properly clean the beads obtained, thus getting inaccurate results.

Exercises D and DD were performed in a satisfactory manner by about 50 per cent. of the candidates. In some cases insufficient reducing agent was added, resulting in a very low extraction.

Little attention seems to have been paid to the remarks made in the report of last year regarding the necessity for removing all adherent slag or other material from the buttons of lead and silver before weighing. The weight of a button coated with slag cannot possibly give the correct weight of the metal. In future, the marks awarded to candidates who do not return properly cleaned buttons will be few or none.

STAGE 3.

Results: 1st Class, 19; 2nd Class, 36; Failed, 26; Total, 81.

The number of candidates last year was 77; on that there is an increase of four in the present.

The work compares most favourably with that of previous years except in the determination of phosphorus in pig-iron. This exercise was attempted by 47 candidates, of whom 22 failed to obtain a single mark. In most of the latter cases the failures would seem to have been chiefly due to defective manipulation. The results ranged from 056 to 4:40 per cent.

The determination of lime in dolomite was, as a rule, fairly well done, but several candidates omitted to separate the silica or the iron and alumina, before precipitating the lime, and others had imperfectly ignited the calcium oxalate precipitate.

The determination of gold and silver in copper was also fairly satisfactory, but the best method was not generally selected. The ordinary mixed "wet and dry" method (with the addition of lead acetate to the original solution) should have been used. Scorification could only be successful in experienced hands.

HONOURS.

Results 1st Class, 2; 2nd Class, 1; Failed, - ; Total, 3.

The three candidates who were finally qualified for admission to the practical examination in the Metallurgical Laboratory at South Kensington and the examination in Paper II., presented themselves, and ali passed. The practical work in the laboratory was well done and the questions in Paper II. were generally well answered.

Report on the Examinations in Elementary Science of Common Life (Chemistry).

Results

EVENING EXAMINATION.

1st Class, 151; 2nd Class, 130; Failed, 81; Total, 362. The students of this subject have acquired a knowledge of a great many facts, but whether from youth and inexperience, or defective teaching, they have not learnt to use these facts intelligently. Hence, many of the statements in their papers are not answers to the questions given, but apparently represent all they know about the subject. Several misconceptions are also very prevalent, e.g., that air from the lungs is carbon dioxide and nothing else, that coal contains coal gas, etc. Another point which requires attention is the unusual amount of irrelevant matter, quite unconnected with the subjects of the several questions, contained in many of the papers. These are defects which can be eliminated by the use of a little care on the part of the teachers, and some practice in writing answers to questions.

DAY EXAMINATION.

Results 1st Class, 187; 2nd Class, 131; Failed, 38; Total, 356.

The papers were, on the whole, good, but the chief defect generally noticeable seems to arise from the tendency to keep the facts acquired in compartments, and the inability to apply them in new and unfamiliar

cases.

Questions in Section IX. of the Syllabus were answered less frequently than those in the other Sections.