Introduction 
‘i ‘ 
has been published in New Zealand for the amateur 
collector, and Time has wrought some changes, even 
in such an apparently immutable science as conchology, 
though the changes have been of no greater moment than 
the altering of a name, some slight modification in the 
classification of species, or the discovery of some small 
and hitherto unknown Mollusc. 
Some books have the disadvantage of being too tech- 
nical and profuse for the person of average education; 
others again are so simple and sketchy in dealing with the 
subject that they are most unsatisfactory to those wishing 
to gain a*working knowledge of conchology; so I have 
tried to strike a happy mean in the following pages, and 
hope my efforts will not have been in vain. While en- 
deavouring to confine myself to plain terms, the defining 
of subtle differences in varieties or species is, at times, a 
matter of some difficulty. In avoiding the Scylla of scien- 
tific terminology, so exact and precise, yet exasperating 
to the novice, one has to be equally chary not to steer into 
the Charybdis of too much simplicity, and thereby fail to 
portray features that are so distinctive as to claim im- 
mediate recognition when once pointed out. Most of us 
may remember the story of a Frenchman who, when work- 
ing on a dictionary, described the crab as “A little red fish 
that runs backwards.” Cuvier, or perhaps it was Buffon, 
in criticising the work, said:'“The crab is not a fish, it is 
not red, nor does it run backwards; otherwise the definition 
may serve.” So I am hoping this little book, imperfect 
though it be, will find favour as guide, philosopher and 
friend to those who see beauty and refinement and grandeur 
in Nature, scattered with a lavish hand by an all-wise 
G iss bee YEARS have now elapsed since a book 
1 
Sea Shells 
of New Zealand 
