ioo The Life and Writings of 



obtain information at first hand. Even Mr. Lea, who 

 reviews the matter with some detail in his Synopsis of 

 the Family Unionidce, edition of 1870, does not seem to 

 be entirely free from prejudice, notwithstanding that he 

 declares he &quot; studied his [Rafinesque s] works faithfully, 

 without prejudice, and certainly without profit, losing 

 much time ineffectually&quot;. In short, it would appear 

 that Mr. Idea s explanation of his treatment of Rafin 

 esque s species is less an attempt to unravel the diffi 

 culties of the matter, and do justice to all concerned, 

 than an attempt at a justification of a method which 

 entirely disregarded the work Rafinesque had accom 

 plished. One can not but feel that, if more generous 

 impulses had prevailed among the naturalists who wrote 

 from 1825 to 1870, much of the difficulty in the way of 

 recognition of the species established by Rafinesque 

 and others would have been avoided. Jealousies of the 

 most pronounced character entered into the matter, and 

 a general wrangle ensued which eventually involved 

 nearly all the conchologists of this country. In the 

 discussions which resulted, Rafinesque and his views 

 were quite lost to sight. Only of late years his claims 

 have been advanced again. Both Mr. Say and Mr. 

 Conrad, well known for work on the members of the 

 family Unionidce, have published lists in which some of 



