While cast-brass plates of this type were first made in the early 1850's, their use continued for 20 years or more after that decade. The principal device on this specimen is taken from the arms of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The form of the plate is identical to the pattern of the eagle-wreath plate adopted by the Regulars in 1851. WAIST-BELT PLATE, C. 1845 _USNM 604244-M (S-K 400). Figure 237._ [Illustration: FIGURE 237] The star device was used by the Militia of both Texas and Maine, as well as by volunteer units located in other states; thus, this plate cannot be ascribed to any particular geographical area. Plates such as this, with the silver wreath of laurel and palm, are patterned directly after the basic plate prescribed for officers of the Corps of Engineers in 1841. They would have been stock items for general sale. WAIST-BELT PLATE, C. 1850 _USNM 604242-M (S-K 398). Figure 238._ [Illustration: FIGURE 238] This cast-brass officer's plate, a pre-Civil War product of American manufacture, would have been appropriate for wear by Texas Militia. Obviously a stock pattern, it would also have been sold to Militia organizations in other parts of the country. As in the case of most round plates, the outer ring is of a standard design; variation in pattern would occur on the inner ring. WAIST-BELT PLATE, NEW YORK, C. 1850 _USNM 604125-M (S-K 281). Figure 239._ [Illustration: FIGURE 239] This brass-struck rectangular plate carries the arms of the State of New York[141] with its familiar eagle-on-half-globe device. The whole is superimposed on a sunburst background. The plate originally was made for Militia, but it is conceivable that such a plate may have been worn by early uniformed police. [Footnote 141: For the variations in the arms of New York see ZIEBER, pp. 166-167.] WAIST-BELT PLATE, NEW YORK, C. 1850 _USNM 60487-M (S-K 243). Figure 240._ [Illustration: FIGURE 240] This brass-cast plate with its letters "S N Y" for State of New York is copied directly from the 1836 plate for noncommissioned officers of the Regular Establishment. The example is the oldest known use of the letters "S N Y" for New York Militia. In later patterns, the letters "S N Y" and "N Y" were placed on rectangular plates and on oval plates worn on the waist belt and on cartridge boxes just prior to and during the Civil War. Small square plates with silver, Old English letters "NY" are included in the 1900 catalog of the Warnock Uniform Co. of New York as regulation pattern that year for National Guard officers. WAIST-BELT PLATE, NEW YORK CITY, C. 1850 _USNM. 604141-M (S-K 297). Figure 241._ [Illustration: FIGURE 241]