28 VARIATION, DISTRIBUTION, AND EVOLUTION OF THE GENUS PARTULA. 
But, above all others, the name of Garrett stands out preeminently. He 
visited many groups of islands during his sojourns in Polynesia from 1860 to 1863, 
and from 1870 to the time of his death at Huahine in 1888; the rich fruits of his 
masterly studies are the shells that were described mainly by Pease and the precise 
description of their habitats specified with an exemplary minuteness of detail in his 
own notable monograph. It is this work of Garrett’s that forms a solid basis for 
the comparison of the present intrinsic and distributional characters of Polynesian 
species with their earlier conditions and situations. 
Since Garrett’s time no new species have been added to the Society Island list, 
but much discussion has proceeded with reference to specific and varietal characters 
and relations, with the above-mentioned confusion as its main result. Hartman? 
especially concerned himself with the genus Partula, but his lack of acquaintance 
with the living animals and with their habitats led him into errors that might have 
been avoided by a reliance upon Garrett’s knowledge. 
Mayer,’ in 1899, made a most illuminating study of certain species of Tahiti, 
treating their distributions from the modern evolutionary standpoint. He made use 
for the first time of the embryonic young for the analysis of the species and varieties 
existing in the six valleys with which he dealt. It was Mayer’s brilliant work, and 
his personal advice, that led the present writer to undertake the extensive and 
intensive studies on Polynesian Partule that are described in these memoirs. 
In the fundamental Manual of Conchology, parts 79 and 80, Pilsbry has dealt 
at length with the genus and has given full quotations from Garrett, Mayer, and 
earlier authors. As a formal and complete record of taxonomic details, Pilsbry’s 
work leaves nothing to be added in the present monograph. On certain minor 
details of relationship, however, my own studies lead to slightly divergent views, 
undoubtedly because the richer material in my own hands reveals facts which would 
not be manifest without it. 
The absolute and relative numbers of snails belonging to the six species of 
Tahiti under investigation, collected in the several valleys, are given in table 9; 
the total number of adults and of adolescents are 24,085 and 7,194 respectively. 
It is true that several hundred more were obtained in several instances, most of 
which were returned to their environment after being scrutinized, while a few score 
of “dead” shells were collected; these do not form part of the series that was ana- 
lyzed in detail, nor do a few others that were taken only to be discarded on one 
account or another, such as an injury to a label that made their locality doubtful. 
The embryonic young numbering several thousands do not figure in the table. A 
few additional gullies of small size were explored, but either they were barren of 
Partule, like St. Mau Fenua, or afforded only a few individuals of no particular 
worth, as in the case of Vaipupu in Punaauia. 
1Garrett, Andrew: The Terrestrial Mollusca inhabiting the Society Islands. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 
Vol. IX, second series, part I, 1884. Unless otherwise specified, future references to Garrett’s work relate to this monograph. 
2Cf. Hartman, W.D.: Observations on the Genus Partula Fer., Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., Cambridge, Vol. IX, No.5, 
1881. Also, on Hartman Collection, Smith, H.H.: An Annotated Catalogue of Shells of the Genus ‘Partula in the Carnegie 
Museum. Annals Carnegie Museum, Vol. I, No. 3, XVII, 1902. 
3Mayer, A. G.: Some Species of Partula from Tahiti—A Study in Variation. Memoirs Mus. Comp. Zool., Cambridge, 
Vol. XXVI, No. 2, 1902. 
