Coe — A Century of Zoology in America. 361 



York published between 1842 and 1844 in beautifully 

 illustrated quarto volumes. 



The leader in the systematic studies in the early part 

 of the century was Thomas Say, who published descrip- 

 tions of a large number of new species of animals, par- 

 ticularly reptiles, mollusks, Crustacea and insects. Say's 

 conch ology, printed in 1816 in Nicholson's Cyclopedia, 

 is the first American work of its kind. This was 

 reprinted in 1819 under the title "Land and Fresh- water 

 Shells of the United States." In 1824-1828 appeared 

 the three volumes of Say's American Entomology. 



The prominent position held by Say in the zoological 

 work of this period is illustrated by the following para- 

 graph from Eaton's Zoological Text-book (1826, p. 133). 

 "At present but a small proportion of American Ani- 

 mals, excepting those of large size, have been sought out 

 . . . And though Mr. Say is doing much ; without assist- 

 ance, his life must be protracted to a very advanced 

 period to afford him time to complete the work. But if 

 every student will contribute his mite, by sending Mr. 

 Say duplicates of all undescribed species, we shall prob- 

 ably be in possession of a system, very nearly complete, 

 in a few years." How different is the attitude of the 

 zoologist of to-day who sees the goal much further away 

 after a century's progress through the industry of hun- 

 dreds of investigators. 



During the period of Say's most active work he is 

 reported to have "slept in the hall of the Philadelphia 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, where he made his bed 

 beneath the skeleton of a horse and fed himself on bread 

 and milk. ' ' 



Next to Say, the most active zoologist of the early part 

 of the century was Charles Alexander Lesueur, who 

 described and beautifully illustrated many new species of 

 fishes, reptiles, and marine invertebrates. A memoir by 

 George Ord, published in this Journal (8, 189, 1849), 

 gives a full list of Lesueur 's papers. 



One of the most prolific writers of the period was Con- 

 stantine Rafinesque, a man of great brilliancy but one 

 whose imagination so often dominated his observations 

 that many of his descriptions of plants and animals are 

 wholly unreliable. 



United States Exploring Expedition. — In 1838 a fortu- 

 nate circumstance occurred which eventually brought 



