4 The Life and Writings of 



&quot;2. I have lately discovered in the neighborhood of Lexington 

 the real Scull-cap or Scutellaria laten flora so much extolled in New 

 York against the bite of mad dogs or hydrophobia. It grows along 

 the branches of S. Elkhorn near Wm. Bryan s, 5 m. S. W. from 

 town. I shall be ready to show specimens of it to anybody willing 

 to know the plant & cultivate it. 



&quot;3. If anybody living on the banks of the Ohio Kentucky, or 

 other streams where the muscle Shells are common wishes to estab 

 lish a manufacture of Real Pearls I shall be willing to communicate 

 to them all the different processes needful to the purpose of com 

 pelling the Muscles to form their Pearls, for a small consideration, 

 or for a share in the profits. The capital needed for such a man 

 ufacture is a convenient place & from $50 to $100. The profits 

 may amount to from $100 to $10,000 in a year, according to the 



size of the Pearls produced.&quot; 



&quot;PR. C. S. RAFINESQUE &quot; 



(Kentucky Reporter, September 6, 1820.) 



Rafinesque had, in previous years, formed the acquain 

 tance of President Jefferson, whom he had visited at his 

 Monticello home. The interest of Jefferson in matters 

 scientific was well known to Rafinesque, who had often 

 written him personal letters. Also during these years 

 in Lexington he frequently wrote open or published 

 letters to persons of celebrity, among whom were Cuvier, 

 Banks, De Candolle, Bory, and others. Three of these 

 letters are preserved in the Kentucky Reporter for the 

 dates 22d and 29th August and 6th September, 1820. 

 They are so very characteristic of the man that they 

 should be useful in undertaking an estimate of his 



