246 
Among other favorite pursuits, he collected minerals in northern 
New York and Nova Scotia, and fossils in Maryland and Virginia, 
‘at a time when those localities were difficult of access. 
After the death of Prof. Wagner in 1885, the Trustees proceeded, 
as rapidly as the funds at their command permitted, to open the 
museum and library for the use of the public. The library was 
opened for use in 1889, and the museum in 1891. The lectures 
have also been maintained since the death of Prof. Wagner. These 
schemes are, of course, 'a source of benefit only to the people living 
in the vicinity of the Institution. In order to enlarge the domain 
of its usefulness, the Trustees determined to promote the work of 
original investigation both in the laboratory and in the field, and 
to publish the results in the form of its Zransactions. It was con- 
cluded to take up either a new or a long neglected subject for the 
pursuit, rather than to direct the energies of the Institute into a 
field already occupied by competent explorers. 
Since the time when Messrs. Lea, Conrad, Say, Morton, Em- 
mons, Rogers, ‘Tuomey and Holmes maintained great activity in 
the study of our Tertiary formations, the subject has practically been 
permitted to lie dormant, especially in relation to the middle 
and the later beds, until the year 1886. During that year 
the attention of the Trustees of the Wagner Free Institute having 
been directed to the State of Florida as affording a new and inviting 
field for investigation, a small party was organized and spent a few 
weeks there under the auspices of the Institute. The most impor- 
tant of the results was the discovery of a Pliocene shell bed, rich 
both in numbers and species ; the first undoubted deposit of that 
age that has been discovered in the eastern portion of the United 
States. The material collected in the bed was productive of many 
new forms. 
The results of the first exploration prepared by Prof. Heilprin 
were published by the Wagner Institute, and formed the first 
volume of its Zransactions. During the following winter further 
explorations were made in Florida, and, among other fossils, many 
vertebrate remains were collected, including several new species. 
The descriptions of these were written by the late Prof. Joseph 
Leidy, and were published in the second volume of the Z7ransac- 
tions of the Institute. 
These explorations were subsequently prosecuted in Florida by 
several friends of the Institute, including Prof. William H. Dall, of 
