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 Rafinesque, 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 some ten grotesque drawings of impossible fishes which he had observed "down the river," with notes on their habits, and a list of the names by which they were known by the French and the English settlers. These Rafinesque duly copied into his note-books, and later he published descriptions of them as representatives of new genera, such as Pogostoma, Aplocentrus, Litholepis, Pilodictis, and the like.
These singular genera, so like and yet so unlike to anything yet known, have been a standing puzzle to students of fishes. Various attempts at identification of them have been made, but in no case have satisfactory results been reached. Many of the hard things which have been said of Rafinesque's work rest on these unlucky genera, "communicated to me by Mr. Audubon." The true story of this practical joke was told me by the venerable Dr. Kirtland, who in turn received it from Dr. Bachman, the brother-in-law and scientific associate of Audubon. In the private note-books of Rafinesque I have since found his copies of these drawings, and a glance at these is sufficient to show the extent to which science through him has been victimized.
About this time Rafinesque turned his mind again toward invention. He invented the present arrangement of coupon bonds, or, as he called it, "the divitial invention." Savings-banks were projected by him, as well as "steam plows," "aquatic railroads," fire-proof houses, and other contrivances which he was unable to perfect. He took much delight in the study of the customs and languages of the Indians. In so doing, if the stories are true, he became, in a measure, one of the ancestors of Mormonism; for it is said that his suggestion that the Indians came from Asia by way of Siberia, and were perhaps the descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel, gave the first suggestion to Solomon Spalding, on which he built his book of the prophet Mormon. In any case, whether this be true or not, it is certain that Rafinesque is still cited as high authority by the Latter-day Saints when the genuineness of the book of Mormon is questioned.
Rafinesque now returned to Philadelphia and published "The Atlantic Journal and Friend of Knowledge," "Annals of Nature," and other serials, of which he was editor, publisher, and usually sole con-
