Constantine Samuel Rafinesque

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz is a Naturaliste and a American archeologist of free-germano-Italian origin, born the October 22nd 1783 in Galata, suburbs of Constantinople and dead the September 18th 1840 with Philadelphia.

This polyglot is a man with the very varied talents: it is interested in the Zoologie, the Botanique, the Malacologie, the Météorologie and the Littérature like with the theory of the evolution. It was an eccentric whose behavior remained often misunderstood by its contemporaries.

Biography

It passes its youth to Marseilles and does not receive almost any education. At the 12 years age, it knew nevertheless the Latin and had constituted a Herbier.

From nine to twelve years, it remains with the the United States before settling with Palermo in Sicily. There, it develops a trade of medicinal plants. It continues to collect flowers and discovers the Poisson S. It makes appear in 1810, two works of Ichthyologie: Caratteri di Alcuni Nuovi Generi and Ittiologia Siciliana .

In 1815, his wife leaves it and his/her son, fore-mentioned Linné (in homage to Carl von Linné), dies. He then decides to turn over to America but he loses his library (which represents fifty cases of books) and his personal collection (of which 60 000 Shell S) when the boat conveying them of Italy sinks with broad of the Connecticut.

With New York, in 1818, he off becomes member of new the Lyceum Natural History . On this date, it already described and named more than 250 news species of plants and animals. Slowly, it reconstitutes its collection.

In 1819, he becomes professor of Botanique at the university of Transylvania with Lexington in the Kentucky. It teaches there the French and the Italian . It launches out in the description of all the new species which it meets. It makes appear Ichthyologia Ohiensis in 1820 on fish of the river Ohio.

It publishes in 1825 Neogenyton , which is worth many criticisms of the botanists to him that it attends. In spring 1826, it must resign of its station at the university for reasons which one does not determine very well (it was supposed that it had an adventure with the woman of the president of the university, for others, because it did not ensure the courses that it had in load).

It settles in Philadelphia without employment. It gives public courses and makes appear works on account of author. Its Medical book Flora, has manual off the Medical Botany off the United States off North America (1828 - 1830) is, undoubtedly, its most known work.

In Herbarium rafinesquianum , it describes many news plants. It is also interested in the collections brought back by the Expédition Lewis and Clark. It thus describes several new species of which the Chien of meadow ( Cynomys ludovicianus ), the Souris with white legs ( Peromyscus leucopus ) the Cerf mule or Cerf with black tail ( Odocoileus hemionus ).

In the books which it publishes between 1836 and 1838, it proposes hundreds of new kinds and thousands of new species (one evaluates with more 6 700 Taxon S of which he is the author). Its propensity to create of all parts of new species the met with the round of applause of the scientific community. Thus starting from a letter where Audubon describes a fish and a tortoise to him belonging to mythology, which Rafinesque in the car at once two new species. The American scientific newspapers refusing to publish its articles, it makes them appear in a regional newspaper, the Kentucky Gazette or in two publications which it founded ( Annals off Natural , 1820, and Journal and Friend off Knowledge , 1832).

But beside its whimsical work (as its book of 1819 on the alarming specters), he is the author of very good work of Natural history.

He discovers even a new species of unknown Chauve-souris in the proper house of John James Audubon! He develops his own version of the theory of the evolution. In 1836, it creates a document-hoax entitled Walam Olum , in which it affirms being able to represent the writings of old Amerindian S Delaware.

He dies of a Cancer not diagnosed. Its collections are dispersed or destroyed. In 1924, its supposed remainders are transferred to the Transylvania university to receive a decent burial there.

In 1841, Thomas Nuttall dedicates to him the kind Rafinesquia (family of the Asteraceae) which comprises two species.

Appendices

List partial of the publications

1810 : Index of ittiologia siciliana; ossia, catalogo metodico dei nomi latini, italiani, E siciliani dei pesci, che if rinvengono in Sicilia disposti secondo a metodo naturale E seguito da an appendix che contains the descrizione alcuni nuovi pesci sicilian . Messine: 1-70, 2 pls.
1814 : Specchio delle scienze (Palermo).
1815 : Analysis of nature, or table of the universe and the organized bodies (Palermo), in which it tries to work out a new system of classification.
1817 : Florula ludoviciana .
1824 : Ancient history, but Annals off Kentucky; with has survey off the ancient off monuments North America, and has off tabular view the principal languages and primitive nations off the whole earth - a numerical specimen can be consulted freely on Archive.org.
1825 : Neogenyton .
1828 - 1830: Medical Flora, has manual off the Medical Botany off the United States off North America .
1832 - 1833: Atlantic Newspaper and Friend off Knowledge (8 volumes).
1832 : has monograph off the fluviatile bivalve shells off to rivet Ohio - a numerical specimen can be consulted freely on Archive.org.
1836 : has life Travels off.
1836 : The American nations; however, outlines off to their general history, ancient and modern, including: the whole history off the earth and mankind in the western hemisphere; the philosophy off American history; the annals, traditions, civilization, lanuguages, &c., off all the American nations, tribes, empires, and states - a numerical specimen can be consulted freely on Archive.org.
1836 - 1838: New Flora and botany off North America (4 volumes).
1838 : Alsographia americana .
1838 : Sylva tellurana. Mantis synopt. New generated and species off trees and shrubs off North America, and other areas off the earth, omitted gold mistaken by the botanical authors and compilers, but not properly classified, now reduced by to their natural affinities to the proper natural orders and tribes - a numerical specimen can be consulted freely on Archive.org.
1838 : The ancient off monuments North and South America - a numerical specimen can be consulted freely on Archive.org.
1840 : Autikon botanikon. Icons plantarum select. Nov. vel rariorum, plerumque americana, interdum african. europ. asiat. oceanic. - a numerical specimen can be consulted freely on Archive.org.

Source

Richard Ellsworth Cal (1895). The life and writings off Rafinesque: prepared for the Filson Club and read At its meeting, Monday, April 2,1894 , J.P. Morton and Co (Louisville): xii + 227 p. - consultable numerical Specimen freely on Archive.org
David Starr Jordan (1896). Science sketches , A.C. McClurg and company (Chicago): VI + 287 p. - consultable numerical Specimen freely on Archive.org

Bibliographical orientation

Leonard Warren (2004). Constantine Samuel Rafinesque: In Voice in the American Wilderness , University Close off Kentucky (Lexington): 252 p.

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