PERIPATUS 



CHAP. 



and a ventrally placed mouth. The body is elongated and 

 vermiform ; it bears a number of paired appendages, each termi- 

 nating in a pair of claws, and all exactly alike. The number 

 varies in the different species. The anus is always at the 



FIG. 1. Peripatus capensis, drawn from life. Life size. (After Sedgwick.) 



posterior end of the body, and the generative opening is on the 

 ventral surface just in front of the anus ; it may be between the 

 legs of the last pair (Fig. 2), or it may be behind them. There 

 is in most species a thin median white line extending the whole 

 length of the dorsal surface of the body, on each side of which 



FIG. 2. Ventral view of hind - end of 

 P. Xovae-Zealandiae. (After Sedg- 

 wick. ) g, Generative opening ; a, 

 anus. 



Fid. 3. Ventral view of the head of P. 

 capensis. (After Sedgwick.) ant, An- 

 tennae ; or.p, oral papillae ; F.I, first 

 leg ; T, tongue. 



the skin pigment is darker than elsewhere. The colour varies 

 considerably in the different species, and even in different indi- 

 viduals of the same species. The ventral surface is nearly always 

 flesh-coloured, while the dorsal surface has a darker colour. In the 



