114 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



work among the more conservative conchologists a reputation 

 perhaps less than its deserts. His defects were chiefly constitu 

 tional, rather than wilful ; he had an acute and observant eye, and 

 an excellent, if sometimes hasty, judgment on matters of geology 

 and classification. When we consider his work with that of the 

 naturalists of the French "New School" of the present day, there 

 seems in comparison little to complain of in Conrad's methods. 

 Early in life he undertook several journeys to the South especially 

 for collecting purposes, and several naturalists contributed to his 

 expenses with the view of receiving series of the fossils. An 

 unfortunate controversy arose from the conflicting claims to the 

 right and priority of description of many of these species, to 

 which Conrad's extreme carelessness no doubt in a large part 

 contributed. At all events the conflict raged with great violence 

 for several years, and burdened the literature with many syno 

 nyms. The matter was still further complicated by the fact that 

 some of his friends, among whom Morton and Say have been 

 mentioned, to preserve, as they supposed, Conrad's rights, wrote 

 and published certain descriptions from his material during his 

 absence and without his knowledge, of which he was obliged, for 

 their sake, to assume the responsibility on his return. To this 

 day the dates of publication of the various parts of his ;t Tertiary 

 Fossils " are unknown to the public, and were not remembered 

 by the author within a range of several years. Conrad dabbled 

 in literature, and printed a little volume of poems for distribution 

 among his friends. I have heard that all his invaluable docu 

 ments and manuscripts were sold or destroyed as waste paper 

 shortly after his death through the ignorance of his heirs. 



CONST ANTINE SAMUEL RAFINESQUE-SCHMALTZ. 



One of the most singular figures in the portrait gallery of 

 scientific men, eccentric as many of them have always been con 

 sidered, is that of Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz. He 



