158 The Life and Writings of 



52. Florula Ludoviciana; | or, | A Flora | of the | State of Louisiana. 



| | Translated, revised, and improved, | from the French of 



C. C. Robin, | By C. S. Rafinesque, | Of the Royal Institute of 

 Naples, the Academy of Natural Sciences of | Philadelphia, the 

 Literary and Philosophical Society of New- | York, the Lyceum 

 of Natural History of New- York, | &c. &c. &c. Author of 



the Analysis | of Nature &c. &c. &c. | | Quand les mate- 



riaux sont imperfaits, r edifice ne pent pas etre complet. \ | 



New- York : | Published by C. Wiley & Co. | No. 3 Wall-Street. 

 1817. | Price One Dollar. (8vo, pp. 178.) 



This is the volume which first of all his works has 

 led to and justified the severe criticisms which have 

 been visited upon Rafinesque. The work is based upon 

 a list made by a French traveler, C. C. Robin, who jour 

 neyed through Louisiana and Florida in 1802-1806. 

 Returning to Paris he published in the following year, 

 1807, in three volumes, his observations and notes. 

 Robin was not a botanist, nor indeed is there any thing 

 in his work that would indicate more than a passing 

 acquaintance with natural objects. Nevertheless he lists, 

 in an appendix, Vol. Ill, pp. 311-525, Flore Louisianiase, 

 a number of common plants, many of which could not 

 possibly have been correctly identified. From the list so 

 made up &quot;was fabricated, by Rafinesque, a fancy work 

 called Florula Ludoviciana^. It may be further said 

 that Rafinesque was never within a thousand miles of 

 the region included in this volume. The book must go 



