THE LIFE AND WRITINGS 



Constantine Samuel Rafinesque. 



r T&quot;*HE difficulties with which students of science meet, 

 especially when far removed from the great centers 

 of scientific learning and culture, are often not appre 

 ciated at their full value. Familiarity with the work 

 of others in the same fields is impossible to many; 

 sympathetic interest on the part of others is unknown; 

 fruitful methods which result from the successful expe 

 rience of others are unheard of; means of publication 

 of facts of value and of especial scientific , importance 

 on first discovery are entirely wanting. Then, too, it 

 often happens that communities which are far removed 

 from the great urban centers have little appreciation 

 of the life and work of the student of Nature, who is 

 always open to the suspicion of mental derangement, 

 or at least of being charitably regarded as &quot; eccentric&quot;. 

 Far more noticeable is this unfavorable feature in a 

 country yet quite primitive. In such regions the indus- 



