Constantine Samuel Rafinesque. 89 



from the pen of our author. These were printed in 

 various magazines, some scientific and some literary; 

 others found a place in the proceedings of learned 

 societies ; still others were projected in book form ; 

 many were promised but never were realized. The 

 first teacher of science west of the Appalachians, with 

 numerous objects brought to him, either through curi 

 osity or real interest, concerning which he had opinions 

 to express, occupying a newly established science chair 

 in the only western university, it is little wonder that 

 Rafinesque found so much to interest him in all direc 

 tions, and that he came to be a kind of Sir Oracle in 

 the Kentucky backwoods. 



The nature of the papers printed during this active 

 period of seven years will be gleaned best from the 

 accompanying bibliography. 



Two works in particular deserve especial mention in 

 this connection. They are the &quot;Fishes of the River 

 Ohio&quot;, and &quot;A Monograph of the Fluviatile Bivalve 

 Shells of the River Ohio&quot;. These works were pub 

 lished about the same period, one as a serial in the 

 Western Review and Miscellaneous Magazine, at Lex 

 ington, and the other as a monographic article in the 

 Annales Generales des Sciences Physique, at Brussels. 



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