5 
egreqius in Georgia, was published in Copeia in 1940. One 
of his first jobs was teaching German and zoology at 
Augusta Junior College. He traveled to Indonesia during 
summer break, learning one of the local languages. This 
early interest eventually resulted in his book 20th Century 
Indonesia, published by Columbia University Press in 1973. 
In it Neill discussed the natural, political, social, and 
religious history of the country. 
World War II interrupted Neill's teaching responsibil¬ 
ities. He joined the Army Air Corps and served from 1942 
to 1945, in Indonesia, Luzon, New Guinea, and Okinawa. "I 
really enjoyed myself during the war!" Wilfred said 
recently in an interview. He managed to do some 
collecting, as the herps from Lingayan, Luzon, in the 
Florida Museum of Natural History's collection attest. The 
ERA-WTN Collection of Ensil Ross Allen and Wilfred Trammel 
Neill, assembled mostly by Neill over many years, was sold 
in part to Rutgers University and later transferred to the 
American Museum of Natural History (Gloyd & Conant, 1990). 
Although he was based in Florida from 1949 until now, 
Neill's experiences during military service greatly 
broadened his perspective, as foreign travel has done for 
many biologists. 
Neill returned to Augusta after the war, teaching at 
Richmond Academy during 1946 and 1947. This military 
school was allied both physically and administratively with 
Augusta Junior College, to which Neill returned during 1947 
to 1949, rising to the rank of professor of zoology. By 
the time he was hired by Ross Allen in 1949, Neill had 
already published thirty papers, in Copeia and 
Herpetologica, the two major herpetological journals in the 
United States. 
In 1929, Ross Allen moved to Silver Springs, Florida, from 
Winter Haven and in 1931, with two partners, started a 
"reptile institute" at one of the most beautiful and 
biologically alive places on earth, the head springs of the 
Silver River east of Ocala. Allen was a handsome, 
muscular, energetic 24 years old (Neill was 10 at the 
time). By 1933, Allen became the sole manager of the 
business, but he continued to lease the land from one of 
his partners and never owned the institute which bore his 
name. Before World War II, Allen made his money through 
collecting and selling amphibians and reptiles and 
extracting snake venom. Although the public was admitted 
for a token fee, the institute was for many years a working 
affair rather than a tourist attraction. During World War 
