AN ECCENTRIC NATURALIST. 165 
he seen, and so little had he compared, that he 
had described certainly twice as many fishes, and 
probably nearly twice as many plants and shells, 
as really existed in the regions over which he trav- 
elled. He once sent for publication a paper seri- 
ously describing, in regular natural history style, 
twelve new species of thunder and lightning which 
he had observed near the Falls of the Ohio. 
Then, too, Rafinesque studied in the field, col- 
lecting and observing in the summer, comparing 
and writing in the winter. When one is chasing a 
frog in a canebrake, or climbing a cliff in search of 
a rare flower, he cannot have a library and a mu- 
seum at his back. The exact work of our modern 
museums and laboratories was almost unknown in 
his day. Then, again, he depended too much 
on his memory for facts and details; and, as Pro- 
fessor Agassiz used to say, ‘‘the memory must not 
be kept too full, or it will spill over.” 
Thus it came about that the name and work of 
Rafinesque fell into utter neglect. His writings, 
scattered here and there in small pamphlets, cheap 
editions published at his own expense, had been 
sold as paper-rags, or used to kindle fires by those 
to whom they were sent, and later authors could 
not find them. His ‘“Ichthyologia Ohiensis,” 
once sold for a dollar, is now quoted at fifty dol- 
lars, and the present writer has seen but two copies 
of it. In the absence of means to form a just 
opinion of his work, it became the habit to pass 
him by with a sneer, as the “inspired idiot... 
whose fertile imagination has peopled the waters 
of the Ohio.” Until lately, only Professor Agas- 
