AN ECCENTRIC NATURALIST. 161 
“His attire struck me as exceedingly remarkable. A 
long, loose coat of yellow nankeen, much the worse for 
the many rubs it had got in its time, hung about him 
loosely, like a sack. A waistcoat of the same, with enor- 
mous pockets and buttoned up to the chin, reached below 
over a pair of tight pantaloons, the lower part of which 
was buttoned down over his ankles. His beard was long, 
and his lank black hair hung loosely over his shoulders. 
His forehead was broad and prominent, indicating a mind 
of strong power. His words impressed an assurance of 
rigid truth; and as he directed the conversation to the 
natural sciences, I listened to him with great delight. 
“ That night, after we were all abed, J heard of a sudden 
a great uproar in the naturalist’s room. I got up and 
opened the door, when to my astonishment I saw my 
guest running naked, holding the handle of my favorite 
Cremona, the body of which he had battered to pieces in 
attempting to kill the bats which had entered the open 
window! I stood amazed; but he continued jumping 
and running around and around till he was fairly exhausted, 
when he begged me to procure one of the animals for him, 
as he felt convinced that they belonged to a new species. 
Although I was convinced of the contrary, I took up the 
bow of my demolished violin, and giving a smart tip to each 
bat as it came up, we soon had specimens enough.” 
A part of the story of this visit, which Audubon 
does not tell, may be briefly related here: Audubon 
was a great artist, and his paintings of birds and 
flowers excited the wonder and admiration of Rafi- 
nesque, as it has that of the generations since his 
time. But Audubon was something of a wag 
withal, and some spirit of mischief led him to 
revenge the loss of his violin on the too ready 
credulity of his guest. He showed him gravely 
II 
