4 
A second conversazione for the Professional Institute was held on the 
evening of March 23, 1927. It was an even more noteworthy and elaborate 
display of Canada’s wealth in resources and natural history. The various 
branches of the Civil Service dealing in natural resources collaborated with 
those of the Department of Mines, under whose auspices it was held, in 
the presentation of special exhibits and every inch of the available exhibit 
space in the halls and corridors of the four floors of the Museum was taxed 
to accommodate the display. The Department of the Interior was repre- 
sented by five branches, including Natural Resources, Forestry, Parks, 
Water Powers, and North West Territories and Yukon. The Department 
of Agriculture was represented by the Entomological Branch and the 
Experimental Farm Branch; the Department of Marine and Fisheries by 
the Fisheries Branch, which made a unique exhibit of fish hatching; and 
the Department of Mines by the Geological Survey, Mines Branch, and 
National Museum of Canada. Mural decorations in flags, shields, and 
bunting, and a beautiful display of potted foliage, were supplied by the 
Department of Public Works. Two special exhibits of mounted flowers, 
including wild flowers of the Yukon and of Vancouver island, were con- 
tributed by Mrs. George Black, wife of the member of the Yukon, and Mrs. 
A. E. Planta, wife of Senator Planta of Nanaimo. 
Refreshments were served in the Anthropological Halls at 10.30 p.m., 
after which moving pictures illustrative of Canada’s natural resources in 
wild life, timber, mines, agriculture, and national parks were shown in the 
lecture hall and music and dancing took place in the Anthropological Halls. 
As there was a general desire expressed after the conversazione in 
1926 that the public should have an opportunity to inspect the exhibits, 
the exhibits remained on view until the following Sunday afternoon, 
departmental officers being on hand during the mornings, afternoons, and 
evenings to explain the exhibits and answer any questions. The moving 
picture program was also repeated on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 
evenings, and Saturday morning. Special invitations were extended to 
the teachers and pupils of the various schools, convents, collegiates, and 
colleges of the city, and to nurses of the local hospitals, to visit the Museum 
at stated periods. It is estimated that approximately 11,500 people viewed 
the exhibits during the week, this number including over 4,000 school 
pupils under the guidance of their teachers. 
Entertainment of similar value was provided on the occasion of the 
Forty-fourth meeting of the American Ornithologists’ Union at Ottawa on 
October 12-14, 1926, a description of which is given in the section of this 
volume devoted to the work of the division of biology. 
DONATIONS 
Individual acknowledgment is made in other parts of this volume for 
donations of specimens and other materials to the Museum, but special 
mention should be made of a munificent gift of paintings from Messrs. 
William Soutliam and Sons, the proprietors of newspapers in various Cana- 
dian cities. They purchased a collection of over forty paintings of Indians 
and Indian surroundings on the Pacific coast of British Columbia, painteeU 
by W. Langdon Kihn, a young American artist who has devoted himself 
to this particular field for the last three or four years. This collection was 
divided by the purchasers among some half dozen public institutions in 
