10 



THE OOLOGIST 



March 2, 1888. This committee finally- 

 purchased the collection on April 6, 

 1888. Dr. Boyer says, "I have used 

 this collection personally for years to 

 teach zoology and specialize birds. Mr. 

 Werner must have made it many years 

 before we purchased it. It is still open 

 to visitors." 



Mr. Werner also sold to Lehigh Uni- 

 versity at South Bethlehem a fine col- 

 lection of birds and animals in their 

 native haunts. This has not been well 

 cared for and is not used any more. 

 Collections were also made for L^- 

 tayette College at Easton and for 

 Allentowii but these two last named 

 were very unfortunately destroyed by 

 fire. Mr. James L. Schaadt of Allen- 

 town has very kindly given me some 

 ■nfcrmation regarding the collection 

 there He says in part: "The city of 

 A!lentown maintained a public library 

 in the Allentown Academy Building at 

 the corner of Eighth and Walnut 

 streets and in it Mr. Werner placed 

 upon free exhibition about 250 stuffed 

 birds and small wild animals all shown 

 under dome-shaped glass cases. 1 

 often saw the collection, the work up- 

 on which was surprisingly good. I do 

 not think Mr. Werner was paid any- 

 thing for the collection or for the right 

 to exhibit it. The collection was 

 placed there about 1876 and in 1881 

 the building was sold at sheriff's sale 

 and the collection was turned over to 

 the four Odd Fellow's Lodges in Allen- 

 town. I do not think the Odd Fellows 

 paid anything for the collection and 

 my impression now is that it was 

 placed in their charge for public use 

 and exhibition. Mr. Werner appeared 

 to have been a public spirited man and 

 considered himself fully rewarded by 

 the opportunity to assist in spreading 

 knowledge of wild birds and animals. 

 The building and collection was des- 

 troyed by fire on October 13, 1893. It 

 is a great pity that it has been lost. I 



have seen collections in many cities of 

 Europe as well as in this country and 

 I never saw any that surpassed the 

 work he did." 



Mr. Werner also had exhibitions at 

 the Buffalo Exposition and was award- 

 ed a medal therefor. At Jamestown 

 where he exhibited his work at the 

 Exposition in conjunction with the 

 State Museum at Trenton, N. J. he 

 was awarded a silver medal by the 

 Jury of Awards. 



It is known that Mr Werner had in 

 preparation a manuscript giving full 

 scientific details of his collections 

 with the hope that his daughter Elsie 

 who was not only a brilliant student 

 but a promising writer, might edit his 

 work for publication, but unfortunate- 

 ly she died suddenly and the notes he 

 prepared have been lost. The only 

 writing of his own which remains is 

 in the form of a dairy and relates his 

 trip to Texas in 1880. In this he re- 

 lates the capture of over 150 specimens 

 of birds and a' large number of nests 

 and eggs. A little personal touch is 

 given in one note in which he says: 

 "Today is rainy and gloomy; feel 

 rather depressed and lonesome; think- 

 ing of home and its comforts, and 1 so 

 far away without any friends is 

 enough to produce sober refiections." 

 One of the birds captured on this trip 

 was a specimen of the Eskimo Curlew 

 now entirely or nearly extinct. 



The Wonderland collection for many 

 years an attraction on the boardwalk 

 at Alantic City, N. J., was his final 

 collection. It was opened in 1892. 

 Here he was at his best and for a de j- 

 cription of this I refer you to the 

 Philadelphia North American of March 

 25, 1908 which says: 



"A great Bald-headed Eagle, its 

 feathers unruffled, perched upon a 

 ledge of rock overlooking its mountain 

 eerie; below gazing proudly on a wee 

 yellow bunch of fuzz, mamma eagle 



