A» r»mindei3 of the happiest te.vson of tho year they cannot be d Bpen«Hl with, and Mr Fiaiet's selection aeemii to be 8.11 that the eye oan desire to frail upon, " Auld L ing Syne" and the " Kindest Christmas Greet iDga-'ata conveyed to the lecipienti: in the moat aitistic ihapea and colora and if _ the pmchasei finds a difficulty In seleotiog it is becauae of the infinite variety that is pra eentedto him for choice. Bouquet calen daia aie amongst the ne^v designs, but theia ,u a hosti of new designs. Tn his lepoit Profeisoi Dliich, of the Otago School of Minea, a.a>« : Tholectoier on general geology (Dr Don) made with h« ftudants duiing the.iewion an extended field excursion, ahout which h* reports a« follows- "The excuwten extended over fonr days. We did not find it convenient to make our usual tiip touth of Dunedin ; but, instead, the Oim.ua excuision was extended so as to lake in the interesting Kikanui seiie?. The places of intereit vnitad weie Randymount and Highcliff, on Obago Peninsula; the miocene beds of H.impden, with the Moeraki senei, and Katiki bedi, and the lower Kakanui nvei, with the interesting altered limestone- near the mouth; fuithe), the bedded volcanic tuffi of Cape Wanbiow and the limestone quai lies of vculotu points aronnd Oa ™^.ra - including the di.vtomaceoui deposits of We« ton and other pa-ttsof thodistuct. Thete excuisioDs were well attended, and much enjoyed by the ntudenti." The highly In ttructive value of such geological fietd ob- Mrv«tloni, di4«tlil«d by Dr Dod, bai beoo

Received December 11, at 8 58 a.m. Sydney, November 11. It appears that the poisoned gala' n.ime was Gibbons, not Evana. Some ye.ua since they resided tn Wellington. Eiatpin news states th.it a email fo-'ce of F tench hoops leconnoltilng iu the vicialty of Kwangchanwan weie attacked by bands of aimed Chinese. A lively engagement ensued, and Che Chinese weie rooted, losing a imudied men. The Fiench had thiee wounded. AffaiiB .ue veiy quiet In the Philip pines. Theie has been no fighting duiiug the wet Be.ison. The conntiy is one gi eat swamp, lhe opinion of the authorities at Manili ia that the insuigentg will be piactic illy defeated by the beginning of Much. Adelaide, Docembei 11. Mi Batchelcn lesigned tha laideiship of the Liboi P.uty, owing to hia Inclaslou ia the Minietiy. 