79 
Rafinesque was much interested and in which he did such valuable 
work. 
The Filson Club is an organization having for its object the 
collection and preservation of original matter connected with the 
history of the State of Kentucky, hence the publication of this 
volume as a recognition of « the first resident professor-naturalist 
Within the limits of the State.” 
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque [Schmaltz]* was born in Ga- 
lata, near Constantinople, October 22, 1783. His father was 
French, his mother of German parentage. His early life was 
spent in France and Italy, and his first essay, written in 1796, was 
in the form of a journal, describing a tour to Genoa. That he 
early had the instincts of a naturalist is manifest, for by the time 
he was fifteen years old he had made collections of plants, fishes, 
birds and shells, and apparently took but little interest in boyish 
Sports or games, or in association with other youths of his own 
age, 
His first visit to America was in 1802, and here he remained, 
mostly in the vicinity of Philadelphia, until 1805, when he re- 
turned to Italy. There he remained fora period of ten years, 
during which time he wrote many papers, dealing not only with 
Matters in connection with his surroundings, but also others based 
upon his observations and. experiences while in America. His 
domestic life was unhappy, however, and doubtless had much to 
do with his subsequent eccentric manners. In his description of 
Sicily he says: « She offers * * * a fruitful soil, a delightful 
climate, excellent productions, perfidious men, deceitful women.” 
In 1815 Rafinesque left Europe forever and set sail for America 
Once more. His arrival was dramatic in the extreme, and doubt- 
less still further heightened his pessimistic ideas. At midnight, 
November 2d, in a dense fog, the ship ran aground off Fisher's 
Island, in Long Island Sound, and all the results of his years of 
toil, mercantile and scientific, were lost. 
He finally came to New York and accepted a position as pri- 
vate tutor in a wealthy family. He soon resigned this position, 
* He added this, his mother’s name, for prudential reasons, on his return to ltaly, 
in order that he might pass for an American and thus avoid certain political compli- 
cations in which he feared he might become involved. 
