by means of signs agreed upon between you both, a short word to your friend who occupies a distant room; tell me exactly how you would arrange your apparatus.

7. A flounder is placed on a plate of zinc, and a silver spatula is placed upon the fish; when the silver and zine touch each other the fish jumps: why? A piece of zinc is placed on the tongue, a piece of silver under it, when they touch you experience a peculiar taste. What is its origin?

8. If you observe the funnel of a locomotive on a dry day the escaping vapour soon disappears; but not so quickly as on a moist day. Explain this, and state how the steam becomes at all visible.

9. State briefly what you suppose to be the causes of wind and rain.

10. An ounce of hot metal dipped into an ounce of cold water loses 20 degrees of its temperature; the water becomes heated 1.5 degrees: what is the specific heat of the metal?

11. Describe some one form of the compensating pendulum, and add to your description a statement of the principles on which its construction is based.

DIRECT COMMISSIONS.

Gentlemen obtaining their Commissions direct, are not required to go through a course of study at either of the Military Colleges, but are permitted to join their regiment as soon as they receive their appointment. They must first, however, obtain the qualifying number of marks at one of the Examinations which are held about 5 times a year at Chelsea.

Direct Commissions are granted in Her Majesty's Guards, Cavalry and Infantry; but until the large number of supernumeraries caused by the late mutiny in India are absorbed, none will be given in Her Majesty's Indian Regiments. These Commissions are divided into two classes :1st. By purchase.

2nd.-Without purchase.

BY PURCHASE.-Any gentleman desirous of obtaining a Commission by purchase, will not find it a very difficult

matter. His wisest plan would be to ask some influential friend, a magistrate, clergyman, or country gentleman, to write to the Military Secretary of H.R. H. the Commander-inChief, requesting that the candidate's name may be placed upon the list of those who wish to be examined in the usual

manner.

WITHOUT PURCHASE.-But should the Commission be required without purchase, it will not be so easy, as the number of such is limited, and many of them reserved for the most deserving of the Sandhurst Cadets. Should the Candidate, however, have any claim upon the gratitude of his country, such as may arise, for instance, from the fact of his father, or any near relative, having fallen in action, or succumbed to disease while on service abroad, he will have a fair prospect of success. It would however be advisable that his case should be urged by some well known Officer, who may himself be acquainted with the details of the circumstances pleaded.

COLONIAL CORPS.-Commissions are still granted without purchase, in some of the Colonial Corps, the candidate being exempt from any examination whatever.

It is expected that these direct appointments will soon be abolished, and every candidate for the Army will have to remain at least one year at a Military College, before he can be recommended for a commission.

This great change must necessarily take some time to carry out.

The following Regulations, in regard to the Examination of Gentlemen preparatory to their receiving Commissions in the Army, will take effect from this date in lieu of those issued on the 2nd August, 1858, and previous dates.

I. The Examinations of Candidates for direct Commissions will be held Quarterly, or oftener if necessary, in London, and conducted under the direction of the Council of Military Education, by Examiners appointed for the purpose.

II. The age of Candidates examined for direct appointments will be, until further notice, not under 18 years; the latest limit for the Infantry being 23, and for the Cavalry 25 years.

III. The Candidate will be examined by a Medical Board, to ascertain that he is in every point of view, as regards his physical constitution, fit for Military Service.

He will be required to produce the following Certificates, which must be forwarded to the Council of Military Education, 1, Whitehall Yard, as soon as possible after the receipt of the Military Secretary's order to attend for examination. a. A Certificate of Baptism, or other satisfactory proof of his age.

b. A certificate from a Minister of the Church or of the denomination to which he belongs, that he has been duly instructed in the principles of Religion.

c. A certificate of good and moral character, signed by a Clergyman of the Parish to which he belongs, or by the tutor or head of the school or college at which he has received his education for at least two years; or such other proof of good moral character as will be satisfactory to the Commander-in-Chief.

d. A statement of the subjects in which he wishes to be examined.

IV. The following will be the subjects of Examination and the number of Marks allotted to each, viz. :—

Latin

The Classics {Greek

Mathematics, pure and mixed

English Language

2,000

1,600

3,600

1,200

French, or any other Modern Language, including 1,200

Hindustani

History, Ancient and Modern, with Geography

Natural Sciences, i. e. Mineralogy and Geology

1,200

1,200

Experimental Sciences, i. e. Chemistry, Heat, Elec-1,200 tricity, including Magnetism

Drawing

600

V. Of the foregoing subjects, the elementary branches of Mathematics and the English Language, to the extent stated in the following paragraphs, will be considered obligatory :

1. In Mathematics, 1,200 marks will be given to the following obligatory portions, viz., Arithmetic, including Vulgar and Decimal Fractions-Proportion-Extraction of the Square Root-and Simple Interest.

Algebra, including Fractions, Simple Equations, and questions producing them. Euclid, the first 3 Books.

Of the 1,200 marks allotted to the foregoing portions of Mathematics, 400 will be required for qualification, and of these at least 200 must be obtained in Arithmetic.

2. In the English Language the Candidate will be required to write correctly and in a good legible hand from dictation, and to compose grammatically. He will be required to obtain at least 200 marks in this subject.

And out of the remaining subjects or portions of subjects which are left to the option of the Candidate, it will be required that such a number of marks shall be obtained as shall raise the total number necessary for qualification to 1,800.

VI. In respect to the subjects marked as voluntary, candidates will not be allowed to count the marks gained in any one of these, unless they amount to one sixth of the whole number of marks allotted to that subject.

With regard to the Classics it will no longer be necessary for the Candidate to forward the names of the authors in which he wishes to be examined, as passages will be given for translation from the books usually read at schools; grammatical questions will be set, and English passages also given for translation into the Latin and Greek languages.

An unsuccessful candidate may be examined at any of the subsequent Examinations until he has exceeded the maximum age. In the subsequent Examinations, however, no credit will be given for any subject in which the Candidate may have passed on the former occasions.

VII. The result of each Examination will be reported to the Commander-in-Chief, and the names of any Candidates who distinguish themselves will be specially brought to his notice.

C. YORKE,

Military Secretary.

1. Describe a thaw and its comforts and discomforts. 2. Write an essay on the following theme: "Winter." 3. Write a letter describing a boat-race.

4. Explain the difference between a metaphor and a simile, and give three examples of each.

5. The bulk of the English language is said to be derived from two earlier languages; name them, and give examples of words derived from each.

6. Enumerate as many vulgarisms of speaking or writing as you can remember.

7. At what time did the following writers live? Chaucer, Surrey, Spenser, Shakspeare, Milton, Dryden, Defoe, Pope, Addison, Gray, Cowper, Wordsworth, and Lord Byron.

8. Give an analysis of any short English Poem which you may choose to select.

9. Give one or two plain rules for writing a good English style.

HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF THE BRITISH

EMPIRE.

1. What do you understand by the terms " Heptarchy," "Danegelt," "Peter's Pence," when used in early English History?

G