T H E 



AMERICAN 



Cornell University Library 

 Z8730.7 .G77 



Notice oi the ^,?[,9,'Jlj|?|f|\||]j|'H^^ 



3 1924 029 642 695 

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JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. 



A V s ■-* i -jifidM^a 



Art. I. — Notice of the Botanical Writings of the late C. S. 



Rafinesque. 



CoNSTANTiNE S.' Rafinesque-Schmaltz, a Sicilian by birth, 

 first arrived in this country in the year 1802, where he remained 

 for three years ; and returning from his native land in 1815, con- 

 tinued to reside in the United States until his decease in Septem- 

 ber last, (1840.) The name of this eccentric, but certainly gifted 

 person, has been connected with the natural history of this country 

 for the last thirty-five years ; yet, from the manner of their publi- 

 cation, many of his scattered writings are little known to men of 

 science. It is chiefly as a naturalist that Rafinesque is known, 

 although his attention has by no means been restricted to Natu- 

 ral History ; since works on Antiquities, Civil History, Philology, 

 Political Economy, Philosophy, and even a poem of nearly six 

 thousand lines, have proceeded from his pen. Botany, however, 

 was his favorite pursuit, and the subject of a large portion of his 

 writings ; and to these we purpose to confine ourselves in the 

 present article. Our task, although necessary, as it appears to us, 

 is not altogether pleasing ; for while we would do full justice to 

 an author, who, in his early days, was in some respects greatly 

 in advance of the other writers on the botany of this country, 

 and whose labors have been disregarded or undervalued on ac- 

 count of his peculiarities, we are obliged, at the same time, to 

 protest against all of his later and one of his earlier botanical works. 



A few years ago, Mr. Rafinesque published his autobiography, 

 entitled, A Life of Travels and Researches, (Philadelphia, 1836 ;) 

 Vol. XL, No. 2.— Jan.-March, 1841. 29 



