PEEFACE. 
No paper of sufficient merit on an ArchaBological subject 
having been sent in for publication, there was no award of 
the Darwin Prize for 1883. The Darwin Prize is offered in 
1884 for a paper on some Botanical subject. 
In the coming year the Magazine will be printed in larger 
type and on better paper. Additional efforts will be made to 
render the contents interesting to the general reader, while 
the scientific character of the papers will be carefully 
maintained. 
The Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical 
Society has decided to purchase a sufficient number of 
copies each month for the supply of all the members. The 
proceedings of the Society will be inserted in full, and no 
separate publication of the proceedings will be made. The 
Monthly Diary of the Society will also appear each month 
on the cover. 
Secretaries of the various Societies in the Midland Union 
are urgently requested to secure for publication in the 
“Midland Naturalist” every really good paper read before the 
Societies. 
