V ° 1 i909' VI ] Richmond, Ornithological Writings of Rafinesque. 37 



A REPRINT OF THE ORNITHOLOGICAL WRITINGS 

 OF C. S. RAFINESQUE. 



Part I. 



BY CHARLES W. RICHMOND. 



It has occurred to me that a reprint of the scattered and always 

 more or less scarce ornithological writings of Rafinesque might 

 serve not only to fill space, but prove of real value to the many 

 students who cannot easily consult the originals. The publications 

 of this eccentric author covered a period of nearly forty years of his 

 truly checkered career, 1 from the time of his first landing in Phila- 

 delphia, in 1802, at the age of eighteen, to the time of his death, in 

 the same city, in 1840. During this period he issued many inde- 

 pendent tracts, and wrote papers for magazines and journals 

 edited by him. The pamphlets were almost invariably printed 

 for the author, and sold or distributed exclusively by him. They 

 covered nearly every conceivable subject, 2 and are, for the most 

 part, very scarce. One rarely finds them quoted in the old book 

 catalogues, and few libraries appear to possess even a tolerably 

 complete set of them. Several of the publications of this author 

 contain bird matter, and it has long been my wish to see these 

 fragments gathered together in some convenient medium, and made 

 generally accessible to those who have occasion to consult them. 

 Unfortunately, the opportunity to reprint this Rafinesque material 

 comes at a time when I am unable to take up the items chronologic- 



1 Almost every event in Rafinesque's life appears to have been out of the ordinary. 

 He was bom near Constantinople, Oct. 22, 1783, and passed his early years chiefly 

 in France and Italy, but visited Philadelphia in 1802, where he remained three years. 

 He then became a resident of Sicily, living there until July, 1815, when he again sailed 

 for the United States. After a stormy voyage of nearly four months, his vessel was 

 wrecked off Long Island Sound, and he landed without property, books, or collections. 

 After a long series of ups and downs, usually the latter, he finally drifted to Phila- 

 delphia, where he died in great poverty, in a garret of a house on Race Street, some 

 time in September, 1840. Those who wish to follow in detail the career of this 

 strange genius, should consult the ' Life and writings of Rafinesque,' by R. Ellsworth 

 Call (Publication No. 10 of the Filson Club, Louisville), 1895, and Rafinesque's own 

 account of his 'Life of Travels and Researches in North America and the South of 

 Europe,' 1836. 



* 'Thoughts on Atmospheric Dust,' 'On the different Lightnings observed in the 

 Western States,' 'On the salivation of Horses,' 'On the oil of Pumpkin seeds,' 'En- 

 quiries on the Galaxy or Milky-Way,' 'Genius and Spirit of the Hebrew Bible,' 

 'Pleasures and duties of Wealth,' 'American Manual of the Grape vines and the art 

 of making Wine,' and ' Safe Banking, including the principles of Wealth ' are the 

 titles of some of them! 



