56 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



cination spread like wild fire over Europe, and it has 

 never been appreciated more fully or more highly lauded 

 by the best representatives of the medical profession 

 everywhere than at the present day. 



The most interesting references in this historic 

 document are to "Mile. Rabin," whose name occurs no 

 less than seventeen times, beginning May 21, 1784, and 

 closing with the entry for the seventeenth of August, 

 1785. We learn that the physician spent the nights of 

 April 24 and 25, 1785, at the woman's bedside, and that 

 her child was born on the twenty-sixth day of that 

 month, probably in the morning. It will be noticed fur- 

 ther that she had been bled previously at the arm, that 

 she had suffered also from the erysipelas, and that later 

 she was treated for abscesses. These frequent attentions 

 of the physician, extending over several months, the last 

 record being for August 17, show only too clearly that at 

 this time Audubon's mother was in feeble health. All 

 that is further known about her is that she died either at 

 the close of 1785 or in 1786, when her infant son was 

 probably less than a year old. 5 



A daughter of Jean Audubon, Rosa, who was first 

 called Muguet (in English, "Lily of the Valley"), was 

 also born in Santo Domingo, and probably at Les Cayes, 

 on April 29, 1787. Her mother, Catharine Bouffard, 

 " creole de Saint-Domingue" who subsequently went to 

 France, had another daughter, born also at Les Cayes, 

 named Louise, who was living at La Rochelle in 1819. 6 



"It was stated in the act of adoption, which was drawn up in March, 

 1794, that Audubon's mother had then been dead "about eight years," 

 and the testimony of the Sanson bill shows that she was alive as late as 

 October, 1785. 



'The following letter of inquiry concerning Louise was written by 

 Rosa's husband when Jean Audubon's will was being attacked in the courts 

 at Nantes. It is dated at Coueron, June 26, 1819, and is addressed to 

 "Monsieur Carpentier Chesse, engraver, place Royale, Nantes:" 



"Following the friendly offer that you made me, I have the honor of 



