Four-and-a-Half Months’ Stay in New Harmony
Description of the region – Natural history – Messrs. Say, Lesueur, and Owen – Hunting excursions in Indiana and Illinois – Wabash, Fox River – Illinois prairies – Albion – Black River – Mr. Bodmer’s trip to New Orleans
March 13, 1833
In the morning, some frost. Very beautiful bright sky and sunshine. At seven thirty, [temperature of] -1 1/2°R [28.7°F, -1.9°C]. Today I excerpted from Smith Barton’s New Views of the Origin of the Tribes and Nations of America the words he has listed in various Indian languages. They are the following: 1. God, 2. heaven, 3. father, 4. mother, 5. son, 6. daughter, 7. brother, 8. sister, 9. husband, 10. wife, 11. virgin, 12. boy, 13. child, 14. man, 15. head, 16. nose, 17. eye, 18. ear, 19. forehead, 20. hair, 21. mouth. (Here it should be noted that Smith Barton has not always chosen readily understandable words that one can easily explain, for example, to Indians, for the easier the concepts are, the more certain the responses of primitive persons, whose language is often only half understood even by the interpreters.) 22. tooth, 23. tongue, 24. beard, 25. hand, 26. belly, 27. foot, 28. skin, 29. flesh, 30. blood, 31. heart, 32. love, 33. life, 34. death, 35. cold, 36. sun, 37. moon, 38. star, 39. rain, 40. snow, 41. ice, 42. day, 43. night, 44. morning, 45. evening, 46. summer, 47. winter, 48. earth, land, 49. water, 50. fire, 51. wood, 52. leaf, 53. mountain, 54. hill, 55. river, 56. dog, 57. bird, 58. fish, 59. bread, 60. bone, 61. horn, 62. house, 63. air, 64. light, 65. white, 66. black, 67. I, 68. thou, 69. there, 70. no, 71. [——].
At twelve noon, 5°R [43.3°F, 6.3°C]. Calm, bright weather, cool. In the afternoon, nice [and] rather warm weather. We worked at home; Dreidoppel went out. Someone brought us a muskrat, and I talked with Mr. Say about measuring elevations. Mr. Lesueur gave me copies of his etchings of the fossil shells and petrifactions he had found along the Mississippi. Since then he has obtained additional significant ones, which he has not yet depicted. There are a large number of these copied objects. Dreidoppel returned at six o’ clock and had shot a ring-necked duck (Anas rufitorques). He had also shot a wood duck (Anas sponsa) but had not retrieved it. Someone brought me a groundhog (Arctomys monax) caught on Cutoff Island.
In the evening, visit at the home of Mr. Lesueur, who again had injured his shinbone. He gave me a view he himself had sketched of Cave-in-Rock on the Ohio, a place we ourselves intended to visit in a few days. The cave opens out toward the Ohio, and a second, small chamber is located above it, in which robbers had their hideout during the early years of the settlement of these regions. Counterfeit money is also said to have been made there. This kind of rock is solid limestone, with sea mussels and other scattered animal remains but without fossil bones.
We further spoke much about the museums in the larger cities of America. Given the general lack of appreciation for the proper study of nature among Americans, such public collections hitherto have been able to maintain themselves only by including organs, bands, and various kinds of frivolities, such as poor-quality wax figures, a representation of hell (in Cincinnati), etc., for the entertainment of boorish country folk. These draw a crude crowd of spectators, and [the owners’] income has greatly increased since they have followed this plan. This is the most grievous situation for collectors in this country, for there are only capricious collections and hodgepodges of all conceivable objects, which are most detrimental to the total impression. Since the hell scene was set up in the otherwise interesting natural history museum at Cincinnati, there has been steady attendance. Previously Mr. Dorfeuille could hardly pay the rent for the sizable building with his revenue from the twenty-five-cent admission.
Natural history museums here are far more exposed to damage from insects than in Europe. There are far more predatory insects, including several European ones: Dermestes lardarius, Anthrenus museorum, Dermestes vulpinus, Necrobia violetia, the same moth as in Europe (vestiarius), Acarus destructor. If collectors in North America do not take exceptional care of their natural history specimens, one will not be able to enjoy them very long.