Page:A Short History of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (1909).djvu/42

26 the minerals to be selected by his brother. He also left $1,000 to provide additional cases and $10,000, of which the income was to be expended for the care and increase of the collections.

The will provided for the appointment of a special Curator and under its terms Mr. Jacob Binder assumed the duty of removing, arranging and increasing the collections, declining the compensation which the Council was empowered to define. He had been elected Curator in 1882, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Dr. E. S. Kenderdine. To fit himself for his duties as Vaux Curator he attended courses of lectures on mineralogy at the University of Pennsylvania under Dr. Koenig, the result being apparent in the satisfactory arrangement of the collection according to the system of Dana. He served as Curator until 1892, when failing health forced him to decline a re-election. Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock then held the office for one year, and was succeeded by Arthur Erwin Brown, who has since served continuously.

Dr. Ruschenberger declined a renomination for the Presidency in 1882, and Dr. Leidy, having been at last persuaded to become a candidate, his fellow-members evinced their affectionate gratitude by conferring on him the highest office within their gift, an honor which he had repeatedly declined. He still continued to act as Chairman of the Curators, the Library Committee and the Publication Committee, all of which profited by his guidance and advice until his death on April 30, 1891.

Custody of the collections of the State Geological Survey was confided to the Academy by Act of the Legislature in 1883.

On his retirement from the Presidency, Dr. Ruschenberger was elected one of the four Curators, thus becoming, of course, an ex-officio member of the Council, where he continued his services during the rest of his life. His well-earned leisure after his retirement from active duty in the navy was occupied in constant supervision of the building operations, in the revision of his Notices, in the preparation of annual reports during his term of service as President, and in convincing support of the Academy's claims to consideration by means of frequent newspaper articles. He died March 24, 1895.