AN ECCENTRIC NATURALIST. 155 



he seen, and so little had he compared, that he 

 had described certainly twice as many fishes, and 

 probably nearly twice as many plants and shells, 

 as really existed in the regions over which he trav- 

 elled. He once sent for publication a paper seri- 

 ously describing, in regular natural history style, 

 twelve new species of thunder and lightning which 

 he had observed near the Falls of the Ohio. 



Then, too, Rafinesque studied in the field, col- 

 lecting and observing in the summer, comparing 

 and writing in the winter. When one is chasing a 

 frog in a canebrake, or climbing a cliff in search of 

 a rare flower, he cannot have a library and a mu- 

 seum at his back. The exact work of our modern 

 museums and laboratories was almost unknown in 

 his day. Then, again, he depended too much 

 on his memory for facts and details ; and, as Pro- 

 fessor Agassiz used to say, ''the memory must not 

 be kept too full, or it will spill over." 



Thus it came about that the name and work of 

 Rafinesque fell into utter neglect. His writings, 

 scattered here and there in small pamphlets, cheap 

 editions published at his own expense, had been 

 sold as paper-rags, or used to kindle fires by those 

 to whom they were sent, and later authors could 

 not find them. His " Ichthyologia Ohiensis," 

 once sold for a dollar, is now quoted at fifty dol- 

 lars, and the present writer has seen but two copies 

 of it. In the absence of means to form a just 

 opinion of his work, it became the habit to pass 

 him by with a sneer, as the *' inspired idiot . . . 

 whose fertile imagination has peopled the waters 

 of the Ohio." Until lately, only Professor Agas- 



