Doncaster Scientific Society
Conversazione (1898 November 3rd)
The annual conversazione of the Scientific Society was held at the Mansion House (by kind permission of the Mayor), on Thursday the 3rd inst., when more than 100 members and friends assembled.
The saloon was utilised for the exhibition of a ‘mixed multitude’ of objects, arranged round the walls and upon tables. To give a detailed account of everything to be seen would be impossible. On the long table to the left of the entrance the geological section of the society had an exhibition – polished granites, marbles, labradorites, etc., Mr. Jordan; polished pebbles of Devonshire marble, Hon. A. Eden; coal measure fossils from Wickersley, Mr. Jordan; liasic fossils and boulders from Balbly boulder clay, Mr. Corbett; fossil shells from the bog at Askern, Mr. Corbett. The remainder of the table was occupied by botanical specimens, consisting of a hugh mass of cork stripped from a very old cork tree in Portugal, Mr. F. Robinson; and a collection of umbeliferae in the vicinity of Doncaster by Mr. Corbett.
Two tables in the centre were occupied by microscopes, the instruments being furnished by Messrs. Winter, Stiles, Gledhill, Jordan, Cuttriss, Bisat, and W. T. Jackson, and the Rev. F. H. Weston. Mant other objects, both living and dead, of great beauty and interest were to be seen, many of the objects were kindly lent by Messrs. Watson and Sons, London, and Messrs. Bolton of Birmingham.
The long table on the further side of the room was occupied by foreign curios, exhibited by the Hon. A. Eden, Mrs. Fisher, and Colonel Hill. Among the more conspicuous were coins, Mr. Gledhill; glint and bronze weapons, Mr. Ord; a microscope of the last century and a collection of old coach bills and railway guides, including a first edition of Bradshaw, Dr. English; some very old samplars, Mr. Gledhill.
The veteran Doncaster naturalist, Mr. Patterson, showed two drawers from his cabinets, one containing a collection of beetles and the other land and fresh water shells. Botany was again represented on this table by a collection of local legumenosac by Mr. Corbett. Photography was well represented on the walls and tables, particularly attractive in this section being a number of enlargements of scenes in India by Mr. Hawke. Messrs. Bellamy, Bisat, Stiles, Sherwood, Allen, and Plant, showed some fine landscape and genre subjects, and Messrs. Skeath and Percy had good geological photographs on view.
Radiography was represented by some hands, feet, etc., bt Mr. Cuttriss, the same gentleman giving interesting and beautiful demonstrations of X-rays, Cathode rays, etc., at intervals during the evening. A very fine piece of tapestry from Chillingham Castle, Northumberland, was shown by Dr. English.
At intervals throughout the evening, and as a relief from dry science, both instrumental and vocal was to be heard in the drawing room, the artistes being Mrs. McKenzie, F. J. Clarke, Ward and March. Light refreshments were served in the buffet.
[From the Doncaster Chronicle November 11th, 1898]