Excerpt from Manual of the New Zealand Mollusca: A Systematic and Descriptive Catalogue of the Marine and Land Shells, and of the Soft Mollusks and Polyzoa of New Zealand and the Adjacent Islands Shells afford the most reliable data for Palaeontologists but before the extinct shell fauna can be utilized, the recent shells of the area must be thoroughly determined. The preparation of the first Catalogue was beset with difficulties, Which were explained in the preface to that work; but, as was then. Anticipated, its publication has led to a vast im provement in our knowledge of the subject. The consent of Government was, therefore, readily given to the printing of the present work at the public expense, the compilation of which has been an entirely gratuitous service on the part of Professor Hutton. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.