RECENT MOLLUSCA OF AUGUSTUS ADDISON GOULD 3 



of 17, he went to Cambridge and entered Harvard College. He 

 worked hard to support himself and, by frugality and application, 

 he was able to matriculate with respectable grades. Among his 

 classmates young Gould was noted for his industry. It was here 

 that his interest in natural history began to develop. He became 

 familiar with native plants, an interest that he never lost. In later 

 life he caused labels with both Latin and common names to be placed 

 on the trees of the Boston Common, a custom that is followed to this 

 day. 



After graduating from college, Gould was employed as a private 

 tutor by the McBlair family of Baltimore County, Maryland. At 

 the same time, he began the study of medicine. Most of his medical 

 studies were carried on in Boston, and during 1829-1830 he was a 

 student at the Massachusetts General Hospital under Drs. James 

 Jackson and Walter Channing. In 1830, at the age of 25, Gould 

 was able to affix a well-earned M.D. to his name. The young physician 

 soon gave indications of future success but, until his practice was 

 large enough to support him, he was forced to work outside his 

 profession. During this period, he cataloged and classified the 

 50,000 pamphlets in the Boston Athenaeum. For these four folio 

 volumes of careful and patient industry, he received $50.00! 



On February 9, 1830, the Boston Society of Natural History held 

 its first meeting at the home of Dr. Walter Channing. Among 

 the seven identified members present was Dr. Amos Binney, Jr., 

 who was to achieve posthumous fame for his "Terrestrial Mollusca 

 of the United States," edited by Dr. Gould. It is not recorded that 

 young Gould was present at this meeting, but it is known that he was 

 soon active in the new society. It was incorporated on March 18, 

 1831, and on May 4 he was appointed a curator. At this time the 

 curators were not assigned to special departments. 



During March of 1833 the Society moved from its rooms in the 

 Athenaeum Building on Pearl Street to the new building of the 

 Savings Bank on Tremont Street. Dr. Gould gave one of the lecture 

 courses offered that year by the Society, and also he published his 

 first work, a modest volume entitled "Lamarck's Genera of Shells," 

 which was translated from French. Before 1833 was over, on Novem- 

 ber 25, Dr. Gould married Harriet Cushing Sheafe. She too was 

 from old colonial stock, being related to the Loring, Cushing, and 

 Quincy families. They had ten children, seven of whom grew to 

 maturity. Mrs. Gould survived the Doctor by many years, dying 

 at the age of 82 on May 14, 1893. 



In 1834, Gould produced a paper on the Cicindelidae of Massa- 

 chusetts, a group of insects. From this time on, however, he devoted 

 all of his leisure to the study of mollusks. Throughout this paper 



