4 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 9 



it should be remembered that Gould was first of all a medical man. 

 Medicine was his life's work and he achieved eminence in the field. 

 The time for his work on mollusks was often stolen from the hours for 

 sleep. He frequently arose at four a.m. and went to the Society 

 to work on the collections before his professional duties demanded 

 attention. 



For two years Gould taught botany and zoology at Harvard 

 College. It was in January of 1840 that he described 13 new species 

 of shells from Massachusetts. These were the first of the descriptions 

 which would number almost 1100 by the time of his death. 



The first indication of his skill as a draftsman, an ability he shared 

 with his father, emerged in a paper in which he attempted to bring 

 order to the genus Pupa, a group of very small land snails. In this 

 work some 30 species were carefully drawn with the aid of a microscope. 



"Invertebrata of Massachusetts." — In April of 1837 the General 

 Court of Massachusetts authorized a geological survey of the state 

 which was also to include reports on botany and zoology. Dr. Gould 

 was assigned the Invertebrata, exclusive of insects. His preliminary 

 findings were published in 1840 in a paper entitled "Results of an 

 Examination of the Species of Shells of Massachusetts and Their 

 Geographical Distribution." This was an epoch-making work since 

 the problem had received very little attention elsewhere and none in 

 the United States. He noted that Cape Cod formed a barrier to some 

 species. Of 203 species, he found 80 that did not pass south of the 

 Cape and 30 that did not go north. Certain species, he noted, appear 

 and disappear suddenly in an area, and he stated that it is necessary to 

 collect over a period of years to be certain of the distribution. 



The "Report on the Invertebrata of Massachusetts," appearing in 

 1841, was the first monograph published in the United States that 

 attempted to describe the entire molluscan fauna of a geographical 

 region. It is an octavo volume of almost 400 pages, illustrated by 

 more than 200 figures drawn by the author, who stated (p. xi) : 



Every species described, indeed almost every species mentioned, has 

 passed under my own eye. The descriptions of species previously known, 

 have been written anew; partly, that they may be more minute in partic- 

 ulars, and partly, with the hope of using language somewhat less technical 

 than is ordinarily employed by scientific men. 



About 275 mollusks are described, in addition to some 100 other 

 invertebrates. The volume immediately gave him an international 

 reputation. Even after the lapse of over a hundred years, it is still 

 the book on New England mollusks. He received a very flattering 

 letter (quoted in Wyman, 1905, p. 98) from Louis Agassiz. 



Specimens of almost every species were deposited in the collection 

 of the Boston Society of Natural History and in the Cabinet of the 



