Constantine Samuel Rafinesque. 65 



dressed so finely or so fashionably as this photo represents, for he 

 was an extremely eccentric man in his dress, as well as in his 

 manners, and was always the object of ridicule by the younger 

 students of the University. They would fill his room with smoke 

 from cigars at night when he would leave it. I was always very 

 intimate in the family of President Holly and know that Professor 

 Rafinesque was always a favorite in his house and especially with 

 Mrs. Holly, who was one of the most excellent and charming, intel 

 ligent ladies that I ever knew.&quot; 



Still another account, kindly furnished by one who 

 often saw him and to whose home Rafinesque frequently 

 came, differs in some minor details from the preceding. 

 This account says : 



&quot;As I recall the old man he was a small, peculiar looking Italian, 

 with a large, rather bald, head and stooping figure, very scientific, 

 absorbed in his books and his bugs, his researches and his writings, 

 a genius with many peculiarities and not much dignity. ... I don t 

 know where or how he got his meals. His room was in the College 

 building and was a curiosity, filled with butterflies and bugs and 

 all sorts of queer things. The students played tricks upon him, and 

 the young folks were amused by his funny ways. He seemed to 

 me an amiable gentleman, an innocent, inoffensive sort of man, 

 hardly appreciated at the time. ...&quot; 



A single other account, by a former student at Tran 

 sylvania University, may prove of use in relation to the 



without credit, and with some modifications, from the one published in Pot 

 ter s American Monthly, Volume VI, 1876. The last mentioned was made from 

 a painting owned by Doctor William Kent Gilbert, of Philadelphia. This 

 painting is a reproduction of the portrait of Rafinesque which forms the 

 frontispiece to the &quot;Analysis of Nature&quot;. 



9 



UNIVERSITY 



