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» Shells of Massachusetts. . 483 
' ART. XVII. — RESULTS OF AN EXAMINATION OF THE 
SHELLS OF MASSACHUSETTS, AND THEIR GEO- 
GRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. By Avavsrus A. Govrp, 
M.D. (Read February 3d, 1841.) E 
Since the commencement of the various gos: 
- eal surveys of the several States, which began with 
Massachusetts, under a legislative resolve dated June 
ae. and which have since been ordered by al- 
ost every State in the Union, Natural Science may 
je said to have received its first permanent footing in 
America. A new order of men has been called into 
action, who have been recognised, and in some meas- 
ure patronized, by legislative enactments. It is now 
no longer a species of outlawry to be regarded as a 
Naturalist ; and the consequence will be, that, in- 
stead of the few, who, in spite of circumstances, 
have become proficient in Natural History, there will 
henceforth be many, who will obtain an honorable 
place among scientific men, such as the nations of 
the old world delight to honor. 
From the manner in which the surveys, above al- 
luded to, have been carried on, each State providing 
for its own territorial limits, one peculiar advantage 
will arise. We shall have not only a careful enu- 
meration and examination of the animals of all the 
United States, much more than would be likely to 
result from the labors of any body of men appointed 
by national authority, but we shall pretty accurately 
find the geographical limits of every species. 
Having been appointed, as one of the Commission- 
ers for the Zoological Survey of Massachusetts, to 
