VESPEKrcn SKKoTIXrs FUSCUS. l8/ 



Schobl thinks it probable that tin- fibres on one side are continuous 

 with those on the opposite side, and that there is thus a bipolar 

 arrangement here. He attributes to the fine network of pale nerve 

 fibres belonging to the fifth layer the appreciation of temperature, 

 pain, &c. ; to the tastkorperchen the highly exalted sense of touch. 

 It is curious that both kinds of nerve endings are connected with 



o 



the Malpighian layer of the skin." 



Rafinesque, that eccentric, irascible, and not over liberal natural- 

 ist, whose inaccurate and ambiguous descriptions of species have cre- 

 ated so much confusion in many departments of Natural History, was 

 once the guest of the illustrious Audubon. The event was the 

 occasion of a somewhat ludicrous adventure, which Mr. Audubon 

 thus graphically narrates : " When it was waxed late I showed him 

 to the apartment intended for him during his stay, and endeavored 

 to render him comfortable, leaving him writing material in 

 abundance. I was indeed heartily glad to have a naturalist under 

 my roof. We had all retired to rest. Every person I imagined 

 was in deep slumber, save myself, when of a sudden I heard a 

 great uproar in the naturalist's room. I got up, reached the place 

 in a few moments, and opened the door, when, to my astonishment, 

 I saw my guest running about the room naked, holding the handle 

 of my favorite violin, the body of which he had battered to pieces 

 against the walls in attempting to kill the bats, which had entered 

 by the open window, probably attracted by the insects flying 

 around his candle. I stood amazed, but he continued running 

 round and round, until he was fairly exhausted; when he begged 

 me to procure one of the animals for him, as he felt convinced they 

 belonged to a new species." f 



* American Naturalist, Vol. V, No. 3, May, 1871, pp. 174-175. 

 f Quoted in Allen's Monograph, pp. xvi-xvii. 



