200 PROCEEDINGS OF THE INDIANA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



Votary of science even from a enild, 



He sought her presence in the trackless wild; 



To whom the shell, the insect, and the flower 



Were bright and cherished emblems of her power. 



In her he saw a spirit all divine, 



And worshipped like a pilgrim at her shrine." 



Charles Alexandre Le Sueur, artist, traveler, and naturalist (probably 

 about 1780-1846), was another distinguished member of "the boat load of 

 knowledge" that came to New Harmony in 1825, and who contributed 

 materiallj' to the knowledge of the zoology of the state. Le Sueur had been 

 a great traveler. He had gone around the world with Peron and La Perouse. 

 He had traveled widely in New England, New York and Pennsylvania, and 

 only shortly before coming to New Harmony he had returned to the United 

 States from the West Ijidies. He had already gained recognition as an artist 

 of unusual ability. He Avas one of tlie founders of the Academy of Natural 

 S<'iences of Philadelpliia, in the museum of which be was a curator from 1817 

 to 182r>. 



To the Jounuil of the IMiiladelphia Acadvjuy he contributed, between 

 the years 1817 and 182."), no fewer than 27 paj)(>rs in which he described about 

 187 new species of which about 90 were tishes, many of which occur in the 

 Great Lakes and in the streams of huliana. 



Le Sueur was a naturalist in a broad sense, interested in many groups, 

 including fishes, mollusks, reptiles, worms, corals, and as(ndians, his (^hief 

 interest, however, being in fishes. Dr. Richard Owen says that Agassiz 

 apparently regarded Le Sueur second only to himself as an ichthyologist! 

 His chief interest lay in fishes, and he was "the first to study the ichthyology 

 of the Great American Lakes." He even projected an Ichthyology of North 

 America and issued a prospectus of the proposed publication. 



Immediately on his arrival at New Harmony Le Sueur began studying 

 the fishes, turtles and mollusks of the region. He was the first naturalist to 

 explore the Indian mounds in Indiana. I*rofessor Richard Owen, in a letter 

 dated December 14, 1886, to Dr. Jordan, described L(^ Sueur as he knew 

 him in 1828, as "about 50 to 55 years of age, tall, rather spare of muscle, 

 but hardy and enduring. He permitted his beard to grow, which at that 

 time was quite unusual; hence he sometimes platted it and tucked it almost 

 out of sight when he went from home. In New Harmony he usually went 

 barenecked, often bareheaded, and in summer occasionally barefooted, or 

 at least without socks. His hair had been dark, but was sprinkled (as well 

 as his beard) with gray. His manner and movements were quick; his fond- 

 ness fcr natural historj' (as it was then called) led him to hunt and fish a 

 good deal. In summer he was fond of swimming in the Wabash, and I 

 frequently accompanied him. He instructed me how to feel with my feet for 

 VtiioH and other shells as we waded sometimes up to our necks in the rivers 

 and ponds searching to add to our collections. When he went fishing with 



