Q. 42. Name, and briefly describe, the six specimens submitted to you.

The worst answers for several years. Fifteen papers received no marks, and in twenty-eight others only two specimens were correctly named. Six candidates failed to obtain a first class owing to defective answers to this question.

SECTION II.

Q. 43. Describe and make a sketch of the top of a modern blast furnace in which the charges are fed in with an automatic skip.

Generally attempted and some excellent answers. In others there were very confused notions as to the manner in which the tipping of the skip was effected.

Q. 44. State the physical properties and general characters of the following kinds of iron and steel, and also the uses for which they are suitable :

A favourite question and fairly well answered, but too many papers contained very serious errors. Thus No. 2 was said to be suitable for the acid open-hearth process, in spite of the large percentage of phosphorus present.

No. 3. Puddled bar was said to be tin plate steel bar, tyre steel, &c. No. 5. All the weaker candidates overlooked the high percentage of phosphorus in this steel and attributed to it the properties of crucible tool steel.

Q. 45. State, as fully as possible, the effects of tungsten and of manganese on the physical properties of steel.

Attempted by the majority of the candidates, but, except in about eight papers, the answers were disappointing. The effects of tungsten in selfhardening steels and its use as a constituent of high speed cutting tool steels were known to most, but there was a singular display of ignorance of the properties of manganese steels, and even of the effects of manganese in ordinary Bessemer and open-hearth steels.

SECTION III.

Q. 46. How would you treat an ore of the following composition in order to obtain the metals which can be economically

About half the candidates attempted this question and six gave good answers. A greater proportion of the others were better acquainted with the conditions which are necessary respectively for reverberatory and blast furnace smelting than in previous years. Several, however, did not realise that the gold might be contained in the pyrites, or that some of the silver as well as some of the gold would pass into the copper matte.

Q. 47. Give an account of the Diehl process for the cyaniding of gold

ores.

Attempted by only ten candidates, but five gave good answers. The others had but little knowledge of the process, and their answers were practically worthless.

Q. 48. State the conditions under which you would recommend respectively: (a) cyanidation; (b) chlorination, for the extraction of gold from ores.

There were eighteen answers, but only two really good. Ignorance of the conditions which are essential for the success of the cyanide process was a specially characteristic feature of the others.

SECTION IV.

Q. 49. You have to smelt the following ore and produce copper anodes ; state the method you would adopt and describe the plant you would erect. The cost of coke is very high :

Give your reasons for the operations you would carry out.

This practical question was attempted by sixteen candidates, and it is very satisfactory to note that there were eight good answers, a much larger proportion than in past years to similar questions. In the other answers the weak points were ignorance of pyritic smelting and of the bessemerising of copper mattes, and hence of the best method of treating this ore.

Q. 50. Describe and make a sketch of a Belgian-Silesian or Rhenish furnace with three rows of retorts and using gas as fuel. Give an account of the best method of making the retorts.

In the twelve answers given there was not a single one really very good. The sketches were all bad, and the modern methods of making the retorts by hydraulic pressure were unknown to nearly all the candidates.

Q. 51. How is aluminium prepared on a commercial scale?

Give a concise account of the uses of the metal and of the composition and physical properties of the alloys in the manufacture of which it is employed.

Attempted by about half the candidates and there were several good answers, but too many were either incomplete, or they showed imperfect knowledge of the principles on which the extraction of the metal is based, and hence gave absurd descriptions of both the process and the plant.

HONOURS.

Results 1st Class, 1; 2nd Class, 2; Failed, 6; Total, 9.

PAPER I.

Five were

There were nine candidates, the number last year being 10. examined in Section II., Iron and Steel; two in Section III., Gold, Silver, Lead, &c.; and two in Section IV., Copper, Zinc, Tin, &c.

Three in Section II. and one in Section III. obtained sufficient marks to qualify them for admission to the practical examination and the examination in Paper II. One of the candidates in Section III. obtained considerably higher marks than those in Section II.; the latter, in fact, barely exceeded the minimum allowed.

The answers to the easy Question 65 were especially disappointing, as every candidate in this stage ought to be thoroughly conversant with the methods in use in works for preventing unsoundness in steel castings, yet only one obtained more than half marks.

PRACTICAL.

STAGE 1.

Results 1st Class, 33; 2nd Class, 28; Failed, 16; Total, 77.

The number of papers sent in for this Stage was 77, a decrease of 20 as compared with last year, and being practically the same as in 1904. The standard of excellence attained by the majority of the candidates was quite equal to that of the last three years.

The candidates were required to perform two of the following tasks, either A and B, or A A and B B.

(4) Prepare an alloy of the following composition from the materials supplied :

The weight of each metal used and of the alloy obtained must be stated in your paper.

The alloy is to be cast in an ingot mould, so that it can be broken to show the fracture.

(B) Extract the lead from the sample of impure litharge supplied.

The weight of the litharge used, and of the lead obtained, must be stated in your paper.

(44) Prepare, from the materials supplied, an alloy of the following composition :

The weight of each metal used, and of the alloy obtained, must be stated in your paper.

The alloy must be cast in an ingot mould, so that it can be broken to show the fracture.

(BB) Extract the lead from the sample of impure red lead supplied.

The weight of the red lead used and of the lead obtained must be stated in your paper.

In the tasks A and AA several of the candidates neglected to melt the copper with the tin before adding the zinc; this is a defect which has been pointed out in previous reports, and it is surprising that it should still continue to occur. The necessity of stirring the alloys with either a small clay or carbon rod should be pointed out to the students, and also the necessity of adding a small percentage of zinc in excess, to compensate for loss by volatilisation. Several of the candidates evidently either had their metal too hot or not covered with carbon when the zinc was added, and therefore lost a large percentage of it. Further, some of the ingots were not well cast, but a little instruction in manipulation on the part of the teacher would soon correct this defect.

Exercises B and BB were well done by many of the candidates. The errors made were those which have been frequently commented upon in previous reports. Several evidently did not realise that both the red lead and the litharge were impure, and attempted to reduce them with charcoal alone, without the use of a little sodium carbonate and borax. Three candidates returned results which indicated that the red lead supplied contained the correct amount of lead required by theory for Pb3O4, one of them obtained a figure 0'1 per cent. below this percentage, when using the theoretical quantity of carbon in the form of charcoal. In cases like these, and where candidates did not return their samples, as they were requested to do in the instructions, they, of course, failed.

while

Of both the ingot of alloy and the lead button, a good many candidates sent in creditable samples, but in other cases the ingots and buttons were either extremely dirty or showed excessive loss.

STAGE 2.

Results 1st Class, 24; 2nd Class, 50; Failed, 36; Total, 110.

The number of papers sent in was 110, a decrease of six on last year; and the percentage of candidates obtaining First Classes was less than in 1906. There is still much room for improvement in the style in which the practical questions are answered, especially in the manner of stating the quantities taken and in recording the results.

Candidates had to perform two of the following tasks, C and D, or CC and DD.

(C) Extract the copper from the pyrites supplied.

The weight of the ore used, and of the copper obtained, must be stated in your paper.

(D) Convert the ferric oxide and sand supplied into a monosilicate slag.

The weight of the materials used, and of the product obtained, must be stated in your paper.

(C C) Extract the copper from the “ course metal" supplied.

The weight of the coarse metal, and of the copper obtained must be stated in your paper.

(DD) Convert the ferric oxide and sand supplied into a subsilicate slag.

The weight of the materials used, and of the products obtained must be stated in your paper.

Exercises C and CC were as a rule carried out fairly well. Several candidates, however, did not obtain good tough copper, the refining not being thoroughly understood. A convenient amount of the material was not always taken; 20 grams would have proved the most suitable quantity.

Exercises D and D D. Many candidates failed to realise that in order to obtain a silicate, the iron must be reduced to the ferrous condition, therefore charcoal should form part of the charge of the crucible in which the fusion is made.

897.

J.

STAGE 3.

Results 1st Class, 16; 2nd Class, 28; Failed, 21; Total, 65.

The number of candidates in this Stage was only 65, whilst last year 81 presented themselves for examination. The improvement in the work done last year was well maintained and a somewhat larger proportion of the candidates obtained high marks.

In most cases the correct methods were followed, so that the failures were, as usual, due to defective manipulation. In the determination of silica in a fireclay, thirteen candidates obtained such erroneous results that no marks could be awarded them.

The assay of the gold ore was only attempted by about one-third of the candidates, but more than half of these obtained good results.

The determination of sulphur in pig iron was generally unsatisfactory, although in ten cases the results were accurate.

Several of the candidates had had quite insufficient training in practical work in the laboratory.

HONOURS.

Results 1st Class, 1; 2nd Class, 2; Failed, 0; Total, 3.

Only three of the four candidates who had qualified for admission to the practical examination in the Metallurgical Laboratory at South Kensington and the examination in Paper II., presented themselves, and all passed, viz. :—one in the 1st Class in Section III., and two in the 2nd Class in Section II. The practical work in the laboratory was not so well done as last year.

Report on the Examinations in Elementary Science of Common Life.

EVENING EXAMINATION.

Results 1st Class, 181; 2nd Class, 121; Failed, 64; Total, 366.

The quality of the answers sent in was about the same as last year. This is a subject more easy to teach than to examine by written papers, and while there is abundant evidence that the pupils are receiving interesting information which will be useful to them in their later studies, the papers necessarily exhibit a great deal of childish and inaccurate work, which in some cases amounts to absurdity.

The questions under B (on Section IX. of the Syllabus) were attempted by comparatively few candidates.

DAY EXAMINATION.

Results 1st Class, 167; 2nd Class, 62; Failed, 18; Total, 247.

The answers were, on the whole, good. There is a very general misunderstanding on the subject of luminous and non-luminous flames (Q. 10), the idea being that more heat is obtained when coal gas is mixed with air before burning than when it gives the ordinary luminous flame. Probably not one in ten referred to the disadvantage of soot and its avoidance in the air-fed flame. Many candidates spend time in drawing sketches, which convey no information, and it would be well if they were taught to supply only the drawings necessary for the elucidation of their descriptions.