BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ISAAC LEA, LL. D. IX 



already gone, except a very few copies; we printed one thousand, and 

 shall print fifteen hundred of No. 2, and shall soon reprint T^To, 1."* 



In the early numbers of the journal Mr. Lea contributed the following 

 papers: "Notice of a sinf^jular impression in sandstone," " On hiber- 

 nation," "On earthquakes, their causes and effects," "On the pleasure 

 and advantage of the study of natural history," " Notice of two halos 

 with Parhelia." In 1828 he published an article " On the Northwest 

 Passage," in the American Quarterly Keview, in which he advanced the 

 opinion that if the passage was ever made it must be from west to east, 

 as the current was up through Bering Strait, as reported by Captain 

 Cook, and down through Davis Straits, as well known to all naviga- 

 tors. In this paper he gave an account of all the early navigators to 

 the northern seas. Subsequently, in 1852, this theory proved to be cor- 

 rect, as was shown by Captain McClure's voyage. 



In 1821 Mr. Lea was united in marriage to Miss Frances A. Carey, 

 the daughter of Mathew Carey, the well-known publisher and writer 

 on political economy, and became a member of the firm of M. Carey & 

 Sons, which at that time was the most extensive publishing house in 

 the United States. He retired from the successive firms in 1851. Few 

 men have been more blessed in their married life, which embraced a 

 period of fifty -two years, when the death of Mrs. Lea occurred, leaving 

 her greatly af&icted husband with two sons and one daughter. 



Finding that a knowledge of geology rendered an acquaintance of 

 the raollusca necessary, Mr. Lea imported a large collection of shells 

 from Chiaa, with the view of studying Lamarck's genera. This led him 

 to study them thoroughly, and eventually it became an all-absorbing 

 pursuit, particularly the study of fresh-water and land shells. 



Major Long, of the Engineer Corps of the United States, was engaged 

 in 1825 to deepen the channel of the Ohio Eiver below Louisville, where 

 a sand-bar obstructed navigation. Here he found many species of the 

 genus TJnio, which he collected and sent to the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences, of which he was a member. They were splendid specimens j 

 some were new to the members, and of course rare, valuable, and of 

 exceeding great interest. 



Mr. Lea's brother Thomas was at this time closing up his mercantile 

 business at Cincinnati, and was in Philadelphia. He promised his 

 brother that he would " look after the shells in his vicinity," adding 

 that he " was sure none of such beauty were ever found in the Ohio." 

 The result of his collecting was the shipment of a small barrel of 

 shells — many of rare beauty, and six of them new species. The de- 

 scription of these formed the first of that series of papers which was 

 Mr. Lea's chief study through a long life. His brother continued col- 

 lecting from season to season until his death, which took place in 1844. 

 Mr. Lea's calling the attention of his brother to the shells of the 



* Mr, Lea believes he is the only surviving subscriber to this valuable journal from 

 its beginning. 



