ay West American Scientist. 



who had the work in charge. They were fine specimens, and 

 greatly interested the members of that institution. Soon after- 

 wards other shells of the'same genus were added to the collection, 

 and in 1827 Mr. Lea published a description of six new species, 

 of which the first was Unio Calceolus. 



When he published this paper he had no thought that our 

 country was to prove the great home of this class of beautiful 

 shells, yet this description of six new species was but the begin- 

 ning of the multitude of papers which he has since written upon 

 this interesting genus and its near relatives. More than two hun- 

 dred publications, some of them voluminous and beautifully illus- 

 trated, have proceeded from his pen, and most of them have rela- 

 ted to fresh water mollusks; particularly the family of the 

 Unionidae. The last one of this -great series was published in 

 1876. 



Dr. Lea twice visited Europe, making extensive journeys, and 

 being received with enthusiasm by the most eminent men of 

 science. The record of these receptions, and the conversations 

 with the great men whose names are so often seen in books, so far 

 as they are preserved from a very interesting chapter in the bio- 

 graphy of Dr. Lea. 



Great numbers of specimens, and a most voluminous corres- 

 pondence were awaiting him upon his return, and the amount of 

 scientific labor which he has performed has been prodigious, even 

 for so long a life. And that his life has been long, it may be 

 mentioned that in the war of 181 2 he joined a military company, 

 and thereby lost his birth-right among the Quakers. But so late 

 as 1884, though in his 93rd, year, yet in good health and spirits, 

 he received and entertained a company of about two hundred 

 scientific gentlemen, in his summer house at Long Branch. 



Dr. Lea has given his idea of what constitutes a species in the 

 following words: 



*' A species must be considered as a primary established law,, 

 stamped with a persistent form, pertaining solely to itself, with 

 the power of successfully reproducing the same form and no 

 other." 



Of a devout spirit, he recognizes in the wonderful works of 

 nature, the wisdom and design of the Great Creator. 



Dr. Lea's cabinet of shells, particularly of the fresh- water 

 species, is exceedingly complete and valuable. Sometimes fifty 

 specimens of a single species are arranged so as to exhibit all the 

 varieties and peculiarities which the shell presents under different 

 circumstances. 



A carefully prepared biography of this eminent American nat- 

 uralist by N. P. Scudder, together with an exhaustive catalogue 

 and analysis of his writings, and a fine potrait of the old man, has 

 recently been published by the United States government, under 



