624 
THE ANNUAL CONVERSAZIONE 
CONVERSAZIONE. 
The usual annual Conversazione was held in the Society’s rooms on Tuesday, 
the 16th of May, and the invitations which had been issued by the President, 
the Vice-President, and Council were responded to by an unusually large num¬ 
ber of visitors. A great variety of most interesting objects were provided by 
the kind assistance of friends, many of whom have on former occasions contri¬ 
buted in a similar manner. On the walls of the principal rooms were several 
valuable pictures and prints, lent by Messrs. Hills, Bird, and Vokins, but the 
greatest space was occupied by a large collection of most beautiful specimens of 
dried ferns and seaweeds, arranged and contributed by Mr. Jardine. Some 
handsome busts were contributed by Mr. Butler, some bronzes by Messrs. Jack- 
son and Graham ; a lqctern, on which were exhibited some photographs en¬ 
larged from “ cartes de visite,” by the London Stereoscopic and Photographic 
Company; literary antiquities by Mr. Campkin; and a collection of rough 
sketches from nature, made by the late Mr. Gendall, of Exeter, by Mr. Brem- 
ridge. 
Several fine buffalo and other heads and some antlers, a pair of which were 
immovably locked together by the animals while fighting, were lent by Mr. 
Leadbeater; some valuable minerals and fossils by Mr. Gregory, and a collec¬ 
tion of minerals by Mr. Wright; models of crystals by Air. Larkin ; various* 
sizes of Thompson’s patent universal air-tight stopper for bottles and jars, by Mr. 
P. Graham ; a variety of articles in ebonite by Messrs. Silver and Company; 
model of an aerial machine, invented by Air. Quartermain, by Mr. Martin ; patent 
flexible diaphragm, for the preservation of liquids liable to be injured by exposure 
to the atmosphere, and patent elastic valve, by Air. L. Bourne ; pharmaceutical 
apparatus by Alessrs. Maw and Sou ; specimens of glass by Messrs. Phillips ; 
specimens of Russian hardstone manufacture from Siberia by Messrs. Phillips 
Brothers ; microscopes by Mr. Ross ; improved ophthalmoscope and microscopes 
by Alessrs. Smith and Beck ; the asteroscope, stereoscopes, microscopes, and 
new photographic manipulating apparatus by Alessrs. Alurray and Heath; a 
new aneroid barometer, showing a movement of three feet to one inch of the 
mercurial barometer, the Herschel-Browning spectroscope arranged for observ¬ 
ing the spectra of the stars, star spectroscopes as used by Huggins, large model 
spectroscope with eight prisms, five-guinea spectroscopes, micrometric apparatus 
in aluminum, etc., by Air. John Browning, of the Strand; Berthon’s improved 
telescope stand, and apparatus for polarized light by Alessrs. Horne, Thorn- 
thwaite, and Company; barometers, etc., by Air. Casella; electro-magnetic 
engine in motion, and other philosophical apparatus by Air. How; oil-lamp 
furnace by Mr. Griffin ; cube of glass, perforated by the spark from an induc¬ 
tion coil, by Air. Gassiot; and simple needle telegraph by Air. T. Boverton Red¬ 
wood. A large collection of valuable specimens (some most beautifully crystal¬ 
lized), illustrating the manufacture of aniline dyes, including a set of products, 
with their proportions, from the common coal yielding the tar to the solid dye, 
also specimens of silks dyed of various colours, were contributed by Alessrs. 
Simpson, Alaule, and Nicholson. These specimens were illuminated by the 
magnesium light by Mr. Solomon, the co-inventor of Solomon and Grant’s 
patent magnesium lamp. Specimens of pure crystallized carbolic and picric 
acids, dyeing materials obtained from this source, and dyed silk illustrating the 
colours produced, by Alessrs. Grace Calvert and Co.; specimens illustrating 
the manufacture of iodine and other products from seaweed, by Stanford’s pro¬ 
cess, as carried out by the British Seaweed Company (Limited), by Air. E. C. 
C. Stanford ; ancient chemical apparatus, peroxide of barium, peroxide of liy- 
