Constantine Samuel Rafinesque. 47 



along alone, with little of counsel or of help. Unap 

 preciated he certainly was, his quaint ways and habitual 

 obliviousness of his surroundings subserving that end. 



Rafinesque was a frequent contributor of &quot;open let 

 ters&quot; and short articles to the Lexington newspapers, 

 and some of these are quite quaint and interesting. 

 He always seemed to believe that the general public 

 felt as much interest in natural history details as he 

 himself did; perhaps, however, the fact that many rare 

 and little known forms of animals were brought to his 

 notice by the curious around him explains an interest 

 which he thought was general ; in this way, perhaps, his 

 own interest he came to believe was common to all who 

 read the newspapers. A single example will serve to 

 indicate the nature of these newspaper contributions, 

 none of which are deemed of sufficient importance to 

 constitute a portion of the bibliography given in this 

 volume. From several articles the following is selected: 



&quot;THREE NOTICES OF NATURAL HISTORY.&quot; 



&quot;BY PROF. C. S. RAFINESQUE.&quot; 



&quot; i. The singular & rare animal, lately killed in Ohio county in 

 this state & described in the last Argus as a jeopard is by no 

 means the African but the American Kaguar (Felis onca of Linneus) 

 which is found all over S. America & Mexico. It has sometimes 

 been seen in Louisiana & the state of Missisipi but had not yet 

 wandered so far north. 



