Rafinesque' s Atlantic Journal. 511 



the alluvial soil of Louisiana " diluvial ;" and that he has been un- 

 lucky in not sticking to his first guess, that the bone belonged to 

 a huge fish ; if he had had the slightest knowledge of compara- 

 tive anatomy, he would have seen, at first inspection, that this 

 bone formed no part of the head of any animal, but was simply, 

 what we venture to assure him it is, the Ephyphysis of the 

 vertebra of the existing spermaceti whale, and which is of very 

 common occurrence in the great whales^ burying ground, of 

 Louisiana. 



This nephrosteontic affair is a pretty good specimen of what 

 the Pi'ofessor can do in the way of geology and comparative 

 anatomy. One of the most iasignificant osseous parts of a whale, 

 and which only belongs to it whilst very young, is hocussed into 

 the representative of a new genus of extinct animals, which, in 

 one line, " must have been the head plate of a huge fish," and 

 in the next produces the interrogation, " is it the bony shield of 

 the head of megasaurus, or some other huge fossil reptile 1" A 

 buffaloe's tooth sits in his scientific parliament for Taurus gigas ; 

 and as to Mazama Salinaria, and Panallodon Tumularium, their 

 most conspicuous character is, that one of them belongs to a 

 geological period " later than the latest," though by the context 

 it is impossible to find out which of the two enjoys that inestima- 

 ble advantage. 



As to the Atlantic Journal, we despjiir of doing justice to its 

 various merits ; it is a perfect museum of curiosities, and those 

 who desire cheap amusement — for it only costs twenty-five 

 cents — cannot do better than purchase it. Lest, however, it 

 should prove too great a m}^stification to those who may feel 

 disposed to purchase it upon our recommendation, we must tell 

 the truth — for we have read it — and fairly state, that it belongs 

 to the days of Dr. Katterfelto of famous memory, rather than to 

 the present times, as a few extracts we are about to give will 

 show. These we take from the cover of the book, where there 

 are no fewer than twenty advertisements. Having never 

 heard of this Atlantic Journal, we were not a little surprised to 

 see, that the first number had already acquired so valuable an 

 advertising custom. Upon examining them, we found them all, 

 without a single exception, drawn up by the Professor himself, 

 and trumpeting forth his own praises and opinions, with as expe- 

 rienced a:id liini a blatt as over was in the r-ervicc of the best pa- 



