19 November: In the morning, dreary, cloudy sky, cold. At seven thirty, -3°R [25.3°F, -3.8°C].M21At noon, −3 1/2°R [24.1°F, −4.4°C]. All night there had been a violent storm from the east or southeast, and in our room it was very cold because of the strong draft. Nor could the open fires overcome the cold during the morning. It seems that winter is beginning early this year.

Mr. Say came to my place to identify my mussels from the Wabash. He knows about forty-three species here. (They are listed in the footnote on the following page.)M22According to Say, the mussels of the Wabash include
the following: 1. Unio plicatus S. [Amblema plicata (Say), three-ridge]; 2. U. undulatus Barnes? (heros Say) [also Amblema plicata (Say)]; 3. ovatus Say [Lampsilis ovata (Say), pocketbook]; 4. rugosus Barnes [Lasmigona costata (Raf.), fluted-shell]; 5. metanever Rafinesque (nodosus Barnes) [Quadrula metanevra (Raf.), monkey face]; 6. verrucosus Barnes [Cyclonaias tuberculata (Raf.), purple wartyback]; 7. cornutus Barnes [Obliquaria reflexa Raf., three-horn warty back]; 8. tuberculatus Barnes [Tritogonia verrucosa (Raf.), pistol grip]; 9. cordata Raf. (cardisea Say) [Pleurobema cordatum (Raf.), Ohio pigtoe]; 10. aesopus Green [Plethobasus cyphyus (Raf.), sheepnose]; 11. foliatus Hildreth [Epioblasma flexuosa (Raf.), leafshell]; 12. irroratus Lea
[Cyprogenia stegaria (Raf.), fan shell]; 13. ellipticus Barnes and carinatus Barnes [Actinonaias ligamentina (Lam.), mucket]; 14. rectus Lamarck [Ligumia recta (Lam.), black sand shell]; 15. ridibundus Say [Epioblasma obliquata (Raf.), catspaw]; 16. cuneatus Barnes [Elliptio crassidens (Lam.), elephant ear]; 17. cicatricosus Say [Plethobasus cicatricosus (Say), white wartyback]; 18. abruptus Say [Lampsilis abrupta (Say), pink mucket]; 19. phaseolus Hildreth [Ptychobranchus fasciolaris (Raf.), kidney shell]; 20. gibbosus Barnes [Elliptio dilatata (Raf.), spike mussel]; 21. cylindricus Say [Quadrula cylindrica (Say), rabbitsfoot]; 22. alatus Say [Potamilus alatus (Say), pink heelsplitter]; 23. torsus? Rafinesque [Obovaria retusa (Lam.), ringpink]; 24. triangularis Barnes [Epioblasma triquetra (Raf.), snuffbox]; 25. parvus Barnes [Toxolasma parvus (Barnes), lilliput]; 26. securis Lea [Ellipsaria lineolata (Raf.), butterfly]; 27. ellipsis Lea [Obovaria olivaria (Raf.), hickory nut]; 28. scalenius? Rafinesque [probably Pleurobema clava (Lam.), club shell]; 29. undatus var. a Barnes [Fusconaia flava (Raf.), Wabash pigtoe]; 30. gracilis Barnes (fragilis Swains.) [Leptodea fragilis (Raf.), fragile papershell]; 31. tenuissima Lea [Leptodea leptodon (Raf.), scaleshell]; 32. dehiscens Say [Hemistena lata (Raf.), cracking pearly mussel]; 33. orbiculatus Hildreth [Lampsilis abrupta (Say), pink mucket]; 34. siliquoideus Barnes [Lampsilis siliquoidea (Barnes), fan mucket]; 35. sulcatus Lea [Epioblasma obliquata (Raf.), catspaw]; 36. ventricosus Barnes [Lampsilis cardium (Raf.), plain pocketbook]; 37. cariosus Say [Lampsilis cariosa (Say), yellow lamp mussel]; 38. Alasmodon complanata Barnes [Lasmigona complanata, white heelsplitter]; 39. Unio rugosa Barnes [Lasmigona costata (Raf.), fluted-shell]; 40. Anodonta grandis Say [Pyganodon grandis, giant floater]; 41. Unio subrostratus Say [Ligumia subrostrata (Say), pond mussel]; 42. lapillus Say [Villosa fabalis (Lea), rayed bean]; 43. ziczac Lea [Truncilla donaciformis (Lea), fawnsfoot]; 44. mytiloides Rafinesque? (undatus Barnes?) [probably Pleurobema clava (Lam.), club shell]. Say provided the first names in the American edition of Nicholson’s Encyclopedia (article “Conchology”). Then came Lamarck (Animaux sans vertèbres). Next, Rafinesque in publications of the Brussels society (Monograph of the Bivalves of the Ohio). Later, Barnes published in Silliman’s Journal. Say contributed several short essays to the Disseminator (a newspaper that he gave me).[Page 1:135] A species described by Green in the Annals of the Maclurian Lyceum. After Barnes, Lea published three essays in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. Lea’s papers were sharply criticized by an anonymous writer in the Featherstonehaugh Journal of Geology. He says that Lea's' names are incorrect and that the work is a picture book for children. Rafinesque’s descriptions are so short that nothing can be identified from them, [and] the plates are very bad.M23In October or November 1832, Rafinesque once again published several new genera and about twenty-four new species of Unio, to which Mr. Say responded by shrugging his shoulders. Mr. Say is a most thorough, conscientious observer and his descriptions and identifications are certainly very correct.

At twelve o’clock noon, -3 1/2°R [24.1°F, -4.4°C]. A shrill, piercing wind. Afterward, occasional snowflakes in a powerful wind; soon a steady snowfall. Mr. Bodmer had been out at noon and had purchased a fine otter skin for one and onehalf dollars (about three florins forty-five crowns). The man also had some poor raccoon pelts. This otter had a very dark blackish brown color. Earlier I had also seen beaver with the same odd color. Mr. Say had given me a small cask of amphibians, all from the Harmony region. I examined it today and found the following animals: 1. Menobranchus lateralis (rare in the Wabash), 2 specimens; 2. Aspidonectes ocellatus (very small), 1 sp.; 3. two or three frogs; 4. one striped lizard with a blue tail;M24Mr. Bodmer brought this lizard from the banks of the Mississippi between Natchez and Memphis. It always has a beautiful blue tail, and Harlan is wrong when he says it is only blue after the animal has regenerated it again. I, at least, presume that it is the same animal that I had already obtained at Bethlehem. 5. Arvicola xanthognatha Leach, 1 sp.; 6. Coluber flaviventris Say,M25Coluber flaviventris, Say [in James, Account of an] Expedition [...] to the Rocky Mountains. of a dark color, 2 sp.; 7. striped snakes (with three stripes Coluber sirtalis and sipedon) [— —] sp.; 8. one slender snake with three stripes (Coluber saurita), 1 sp.; 9. Heterodon platyrhinus Latr., 1 sp.M26Local crustacea include two kinds of crabs, which, here in the lowlands that are flooded now and then, make small piles with an opening into the ground. They are called crawfish here. One is Astacus bartonii Bose, the other Astacus affinis Say. Larger varieties of Crustacea are not known here, though very many small ones are.

Today at Mr. Say’s place, I saw ears of corn of quite excellent size; they measured two inches, nine lines in diameter, and I counted 1,000 kernels on one of them. This useful plant occurs here in very many varieties. One kind, which is called sweet corn, is especially tasty when roasted while still not mature; its kernels look shriveled. One kind has completely white, another one, beautifully striped red and white kernels. In addition there are red, yellow, and blue varieties. Here along the Wabash, the plant itself grows much taller, probably ten feet high, than beyond the Alleghenies. Very delicious bread and cake are baked from it. These kernels, too, are prepared for eating in various ways. When the meal is cooked with milk, this dish is called mush. Here there are very many different varieties of so-called Indian corn.M27It was originally cultivated by the Indians.

In the afternoon, when I was visiting Mr. Lesueur, who was ailing, we found a hare native to this area (rabbit, Lepus americanus) under a pile of lumber near the buildings and were able to drive it out only with great effort. Pursued by four dogs, it fled through several fences and escaped. The heavy dogs leaped over the fences and soon lost sight of their quarry. A cold storm lasted all day, and the night [Page 1:136]was black, gloomy, and wild.