246 MIDLAND UNION OF NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETIES. Nov., 1891. 
place at the Dudley Arms Hotel. The attendance by this 
time had slightly increased. Mr. John Amplilett presided, 
and he was supported by Mr. Lawson Tail. 
THE CONVERSAZIONE. 
The attendance on the whole was satisfactory. Amongst 
the company we noticed Mr. John Amplilett, Mr. Hickey, Mr. 
Frank Grazebrook and Mrs. Grazebrook, Mr. Lawson Tait, 
Dr. T. Stacey Wilson, Mr. A. Freer (Stourbridge), Dr. Fraser 
(Wolverhampton), Professor Lapwortli, Mr. Renaud, Mr. 
E. B. Marten, Mr. W. H. Hughes, Bev. T. Denham 
Williams, Rev. J. B. Lloyd, Mr. H. Johnson, Mr. F. 
North, Mr. Wickham King, Mr. W. Madeley, Mr. J. G. 
Jones, Mr. T. Jones, &c. One of the main features of 
the interesting collection was the large number of micro¬ 
scopes, with all kinds of specimens. These were largely 
inspected by the visitors. Fossils were numerous (many of 
them unique) and perfectly representative of the district, 
rich as it is in geological flora and fauna. Mr. E. Hollier 
sent some of his famous collection of trilobites, whilst Mr. H. 
Johnson and Mr. Wickham King also furnished some rare 
specimens. Mr. Lawson Tait kindly lent a fine fossilised fish 
from the beds of the Green River Eocene, the Bear River, Wvom- 
ing. The most attractive exhibits to the majority of visitors 
were, probably, the beautiful models of the South Staffordshire 
Coalfield belonging to Mr. Marten, the well-known civil 
engineer. The large one was unique and valuable. Mr. F. 
North had a very interesting and instructive collection of 
South African minerals, including a magnificent diamond in 
the rough. There were also many other curiosities of African 
life, and splendid photos of the diamond mines at work. Mr. 
North added to this interesting result of his travels abroad a 
huge model of a new section of the Natal Coalfield. The 
conversazione was particularly rich in pictorial exhibits. The 
walls all round the hall were covered with sections of the 
South Staffordshire Coalfield, photographs of various mining 
operations at home and abroad—including Mr. C. Cochrane’s 
splendid photos that were in the last Dudley exhibition ; old 
pictures showing how the great seam of thick coal was 
worked in olden times, drawings of numerous workings and 
pit accidents. Mr. H. Evers-Swindell lent some very inter¬ 
esting archaeological sketches, principally of Shropshire abbeys 
and churches. Mr. Frank Evers’s cases of butterflies and shells 
were amongst the most interesting of the exhibits, whilst Mr. 
Lawson Tait’s valuable Japanese curiosities' excited much 
admiration. A rather new thing was introduced—a process 
