74 The Life and Writings of 



in Philadelphia, and extends uninterruptedly until 1840, 

 the year of his death. The number and character of 

 his papers differ in such marked manner that there 

 may be recognized, justly, three separate periods, during 

 each one of which his work had a distinguishing char 

 acter. The first may be said to comprehend all the 

 published work of Rafinesque during his Sicilian resi 

 dence; the second, and also the period of most valu 

 able literary effort, will include the years of residence 

 in Lexington; the third, the period of vagaries, will 

 comprehend the fifteen years of second residence in 

 Philadelphia. Under these three major classifications, 

 then, we will attempt an analysis of his scientific 

 writings. 



SCIENTIFIC WORK IN SICILY. 



The work of Rafinesque on the fishes of the Medi 

 terranean Sea, in that portion which borders Sicily, was 

 the first of its kind to possess any, really scientific, 

 value. Many new species and genera of fishes were 

 discovered by him; and the results of considerable of 

 his ichthyologic work are still held to be valid. This 

 work was accomplished while Rafinesque was yet a 

 young man. He had gone to Sicily fired with a love 

 for every thing natural ; his zeal had been intensified 



