PREFACE 



BY THE EDITOR 



In 1841 there was published agreeably to an order of the Legis- 

 lature a Report on the Invertebrata of Massachusetts, com])rising 

 the Molltisca, Crustacea, Annelida, and Radiata, bj Dr. A. A. 

 Gould. In 1865 the Legislature directed a new and revised edi- 

 tion of the work to be published by Dr. Gould. The rapid progress 

 that was making in preparing this new edition was interrupted in. 

 1866 by the death of the author. In 1867 the Legislature author- 

 ized the Governor and Council to appoint some person to complete 

 the work, and the choice fell on me. 



Upon assuming the charge of the publication and receiving the 

 manuscripts, drawings, notes, &c., of Dr. Gould, I endeavored to 

 learn thoroughly what plan he had made for revising the first edi- 

 tion, as I was directed to complete the work as nearly as possible 

 in accordance irith the views and ivishes of the author. I believe 

 I have been altle to arrive at a clear idea of his intentions, which, 

 according to my orders, I have most scrupulously endeavored to 

 carry out, irrespective of my own opinions. It is only in treating 

 the Palmonifera that I have exercised my own judgment, and here 

 only to the extent that I believe Dr. Gould would have approved. 

 Under the descriptions of the various larger systematic divisions, 

 I have given notes showing more particularly my share in the com- 

 position of their respective portions of the text. 



Dr. Gould intended to reprint the copperplates of the original 

 edition, and to give woodcuts of the additional species. He had 

 prepared figures of the species of Teredo and Astarte alone, and as 

 his own collection had been sold and removed from Boston, I was 

 obliged to obtain for figuring specimens from other sources. I nat- 



