60 The Life and Writings of 



considerable collection of plants, named and studied by 

 Rafinesque, may be seen in the Jardin des Plantes, in 

 Paris, where they form a portion of the Herbier Durand. 

 Mr. William Hembel presented to the Philadelphia Acad 

 emy of Natural Sciences that portion of the herbarium 

 of Rafinesque which contained the plants on which were 

 based the descriptive portions of the Medical Flora. 

 These descriptions are said to possess very great value 

 to-day, and it is very agreeable to know that the plants 

 are still in existence. They, together with other valuable 

 Buropean and Oriental plants, had been purchased at 

 the sale of the estate of their owner. A collection of 

 Annelides, or marine worms, made by Rafinesque, also 

 found its way into the Philadelphia Academy s collec 

 tions.* The rest are gone forever; that they really 

 possessed value is uncertain. 



The books which Rafinesque left appear to have been 

 especially the quest of the greedy purchasers who attended 

 the sale. Some were sold at private terms, as the will 

 directs that all should be, but most of them went at 

 public auction. The return of the executors, appended 

 to the will, demonstrates that the Medical Flora, pub 

 lished in two volumes, had certain value. One man, a 



* Vide &quot;A Notice of the Origin, Progress, and Present Condition of the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.&quot; By W. S. W. Ruschenberger, 

 M. D., 1852, p. 27. 



