268 REPORT—1896. 
Mr. Davis has made much progress in an investigation of the nitro- 
and nitrobromo-/-ethoxynaphthalenes, paying special attention to their 
crystallographic characters ; they are all intensely yellow-coloured sub- 
stances, and apparently the colour is an intrinsic property. As the corre- 
sponding phenol derivatives are colourless substances, it will be of interest 
to institute an exact comparison between the two series. 
It should also be mentioned that, in the course of their work during the 
year, Dr. Wynne and the writer have been able to confirm Cleve’s observa- 
tion that the 1 ; 3 nitro-acid is among the products of the nitration of 
naphthalene-/3-sulphonic acid (‘ Proceedings of the Chemical Society,’ 1895, 
No, 158, p. 238). This result is of interest, as no other case is known of 
the direct formation of a meta-di-derivative of naphthalene. 
Lhe Teaching of Science in Elementary Schools—Report of the Com- 
mittee, consisting of Dr. J. H. GLADSTONE (Chairman), Professor 
H. E. Armstrone (Secretary), Professor W. R. Dunstan, Mr. 
GEORGE GLADSTONE, Sir Jonn Luszock, Sir Partie Maanvs, Sir 
H. E. Roscor, and Professor 8. P. THompson. 
Your Committee have the satisfaction of reporting that the return of the 
Education Department for this year shows continued progress in respect 
ef the teaching of science subjects in Elementary Schools. Under the old 
régime, which existed until 1890, ‘English,’ by which was meant the 
elements of English Grammar, including parsing and analysis of sen- 
tences, was an obligatory subject if any of the class subjects were taught 
in a school ; and as Geography has always enjoyed a considerable measure 
of popularity, no room was practically left for Elementary Science. 
Hence during the eight years ending with 1890 the number of depart- 
ments of schools in which these three class subjects were taught was as 
follows :— 
Class Subjects.—Departments | 1882-83 | 1883-84 | 1884-85 | 
ee | 
English . . . . 
| a, 4 | 7 | a 
1885-86 | 1886-S7 | 1887-88 | 1888-89 | 1889-90 
18,363 1,080 19,431 | 19,608 | 19,917 | 20,041 | 20,153 | 20,304 
| 
at 
12,336 | 12,055 
Geography 5 . ° “nl 12,823 
45 | 43 
12,775 
Elementary Science ~ oH 48 
51 
12,035 | 12,058 12,171 | 12,367 
| 36) 82 
As soon, however, as full liberty of choice was given to managers and 
teachers, the number of departments in which ‘English’ was taught 
commenced to decrease, notwithstanding the natural increase in the 
number of schools ; while the two other subjects named have been taken 
up more largely, and have continued to receive greater attention year by 
year. The figures up to 1894-95, which is the latest return issued by the 
Education Department, are as follows :— 
Class Subjects —Departments | 1890-91 1891- | 1892-93 | 1893-94 1894-95 
English : - - | 19,825 18,175 17,394 | 17,032 16,280 
Geography . : - . | 12,806 13,485 14,256 15,250 15,702 
Elementary Science 3 | 173 788 1,073 1,215 1,712 
The number of departments in ‘schools for older scholars’ for the 
year 1894-95 was 22,798, of which 33 did not take any class subject, 
