196 PROCEEDINGS OF THE INDIANA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



primitive Sp. with genealogical tables of the gradual deviations having 

 formed our actual Sp. If I cannot perform this, give me credit for it, and 

 do it yourself upon the plan that I trace. 



C. S. R." 



But Rafinesque did not live to do this, neither did John Torrey do it for 

 him.* 



I shall not take time here to list the numerous papers relating to the 

 fauna of the Ohio Valley which Rafinesque published between 1818 and 1832, 

 nor to enumerate the many new species of fishes, mollusks, and plants which 

 he described. Many of his papers dealt directly with fishes and shells that 

 occur in Indiana; in many instances the specimens on which the descriptions 

 were based came from Indiana streams, and many others from that portion 

 of the Ohio bordering Indiana. 



Rafine-sque was therefore the first naturalist to study the fishes of the 

 Ohio. Our first knowledge of the ichthyological fauna of southern Indiana 

 dates from Rafinesque's arrival at Lexington in 1818, when Indiana as a 

 State was but two years old. To the Transylvania University belongs the 

 honor of having had as a member of its faculty this all round naturalist who 

 was the first to collect and study the fishes l»eyond the Alleghenies; and to 

 that institution must attach also the stigma of having driven from its halls 

 the only member of its faculty whose name has survived to this day. 



The New Harmony Community 



In 1815 there was established on the banks of the Wabash in Posey 

 Courty. Indiana, a settlement or community which was destined to play a 

 most important part in the social, literary and scientific life of the state. 

 The settlement was established by George Rapp and his followers who mi- 

 grated to the Wabash Valley from Butler C-ninty, Pennsylvania. These 

 people called themselves Rappists or Harmonists, and their new village they 

 named New Harmony. The society was a communistic organization, all 

 property being held in common. 



In 1824 Robert Owen purchased the land and other property of the 

 Harmonists. He and his followers undertook to continue the venture along 

 somewhat the same lines. Among the members of the new community 

 were many men and women destined to become prominent in the affairs 

 of the state and the nation. The vanguard of these came to New Harmony in 

 1825. They were spoken of as the "boat load of knowledge." Among those 

 Avhom we should mention and who concern us most, were Robert Owen, 

 r)avid Dale Owen, Richard Owen, Alexander Maelure, William Maelure, 

 Thomas Say, Mrs. Say and Charles Alexander LeSueur. 



*Dr. L. Stejneger also discove:"ed this interesting letter and re-printed it in 

 Science for May 18, li)06, pp. 785-786, where it apparently did not attract the atten- 

 tion it deserved. 



