260 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



plates, all drawn by the author, and colored by hand by his sis- 

 ter. In 1834 Conrad published New Fresh-water Shells of the 

 United States, with Lithographic Illustrations and a Monograph 

 of the Genus Anculotus of Say. Also, A Synopsis of the Amer- 

 ican Naiades ; Philadelphia, Judah Dobson, 108 Chestnut Street, 

 May 3, 1834. The full title of this little volume, with precise date 

 of publication (not much larger than the title is long) is given, 

 because even then questions of priority had arisen, and others laid 

 claim to some of Conrad's species. This unhappy wrangling was 

 kept up for many years. Prof. Dall refers to this, as we shall see 

 further on, as " numerous controversies, which are now ancient 

 history." Conrad's own version should be given. He claimed 

 that the editions of his publications were largely bought up and 

 destroyed by a worker in the same field, and this explains the 

 rarity of some of his writings. In the preface of the little vol- 

 ume above mentioned the author says : " While residing in the 

 mansion of my kind and hospitable friend, Judge Tait, of Clai- 

 borne, Alabama, where I was employed in collecting the organic 

 remains of the vicinity, I occasionally made excursions up and 

 down the Alabama for the purpose of procuring fresh-water 

 shells. I have succeeded in obtaining some species which I be- 

 lieve to be new, and hope to fix by accurate delineations and de- 

 scriptions." The result was the little book, which is dedicated to 

 the late Charles A. Poulson, of Philadelphia, a prominent con- 

 chologist in his day, and one of Conrad's financial backers in his 

 several expeditions south in search of both recent and fossil shells. 

 In 1834, in the Journal (old series) of the Philadelphia Academy 

 of Natural Sciences, Volume VII, Conrad published Observations 

 on the Tertiary and More Recent Formations of a Portion of the 

 United States, which appears to have been his first communica- 

 tion to that body. In 1841 the Proceedings of the Academy were 

 commenced, and a new series of the Journal in quarto. In the 

 former, from Volume I to Volume XXXVI, Conrad's contributions 

 appear in every year ; the articles varying from two to a dozen in 

 number. In the first four volumes of the new journal he has 

 eleven contributions, all of which are profusely illustrated. In 

 1836 Conrad published Monography of the Family Unionidse, 

 or Naiades of Lamarck (fresh-water bivalve shells), of North 

 America. Illustrated by Figures drawn on Stone from Nature. 

 Philadelphia : J. Dobson, 1836. This work, like the Marine Con- 

 chology, was never finished. It would seem as if the magni- 

 tude of the work had not occurred to him at the time, or 

 that he was soon tired of any subject that he took up, but the 

 real difficulty was a want of financial support. There were 

 never enough subscribers to meet the expense of publication. 

 At this time, too, his health was very bad, and he seemed to lose 



