THE NAUTILUS. 
119 
Fulgur perversum is a rare shell on the coast north of Dela¬ 
ware Bay, if, indeed, it occurs at all living. Mr. Curtis Smith has 
recently found dead and blackened (fossil?) specimens at Wild¬ 
wood, N. J. 
Prof. H. E. Sargent of Woodville, Ala., called upon his friends 
in Philadelphia on the 26-28th inst. He purposes to be in New 
England for the next month or more. 
NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
The Life and Writings of Rafinesque, By Richard Ells¬ 
worth Call. 1 (Filson Club Publications, No. 10).—To most natu- 
nralists, a peculiar charm attaches to the personalities of their 
predecessors in the same field of endeavor. And we of to-day, who 
may fairly be reckoned as the third generation of nature students 
in America, have a natural curiosity to know something of the men 
of that first generation, to whom the “ New World” was indeed 
new—who enjoyed in such generous measure that intense delight 
which can only be felt or apppreciated by the field naturalist in the 
presence of forms of life new to him. Rafinesque, the subject of 
Mr. Call’s present work, has been much less familiarly known to us 
than any of the other pioneers in American zoology; he was mis¬ 
understood by most when living, and scoffed at dead. It is, there¬ 
fore, with unusual interest that we follow the tale of his eventful 
life as it is here related. Mr. Call, after telling of his early train¬ 
ing, or rather lack of training, follows his hero to France and then 
to Sicily, where Rafinesque’s life work was begun, and his peculiar 
characteristics as a naturalist were developed. When he finally 
left that sunny island for America, he was already the author of 
many works and papers on numerous branches of zoology and bot¬ 
any, though only thirty-two years of age. His career of misfortune 
in America — relieved only by the intense pleasure of his work—is 
graphically described, the period covered by his life in Kentucky 
being given most space, this time covering Rafinesque’s most im¬ 
portant contributions to American science. Two portraits of 
Rafinesque are reproduced, as well as an autograph letter and sam¬ 
ple pages of some of his works, all by good photo process engrav¬ 
ings. The volume concludes with a bibliography, which seems to 
be complete. 
The character of Rafinesque is appreciatively interpreted by Mr. 
Call, and his shortcomings are as leniently mentioned as strict re- 
1 Louisville, Kentucky, 1895, 4io. pp. xii, 227. 
