Constantine Samuel Rafinesque. 35 



the only name mentioned tenderly and with evident 

 regard is that of Clifford. Of all the men with whom 

 Rafinesque came in contact Clifford alone seemed to 

 enter into the life of the naturalist, and the influence 

 of that association was greater than all the world beside. 

 The seven years of life at Lexington were very busy 

 ones for Rafinesque. He made many excursions, some 

 of which extended into Tennessee, and during which 

 nearly all the accessible portions of Kentucky were 

 visited. He made most extensive collections, chiefly in 

 conchology and botany, though he neglected no branch 

 of natural science. Numerous papers were written, and 

 many of them published; at the same time he attended 

 to the ordinary duties of the class-room. He was the 

 secretary of the Kentucky Institute, the first scientific 

 society formed within the State, and one of the first, 

 if not the first, west of the Alleghanies. Doctor Horace 

 Holly was the President of the Institute, before which 

 a number of persons, and Rafinesque most of all, read 

 scientific papers. Some of these were afterward printed 

 in the Cincinnati Literary Gazette. The exploration 

 and mapping of the ancient monuments which are near 

 Lexington were accomplished during these years. But 

 the most remarkable work of all was the preparation 

 of the Ichthyologia Ohiensis, which has caused such 



