470 ADDITIONAL NOTES ON PERIPATUS LEUCKARTI, 



Society by Dr. Ramsay who subsequently by kind permission of 

 the Trustees allowed me to examine tliem. In his " Report of a 

 Collecting Trip to Mt. Kosciusko "* Mr. Helms refers to these 

 specimens in the following words : " But perhaps the most inter- 

 esting contribution to my collection was made on Sunday, March 

 10th, in the shape of a specimen of Peripatus. This interesting 

 find was later on augmented by two others, and one specimen was 

 obtained on the 19th at an elevation of at least 5700 feet. This 

 is the highest altitude at which I have met this interestinsf 

 Myriapod, and as far as I am aw^are none have been previously 

 found at such an elevation. It must be remembered that this 

 locality for at least from four to five months [in the year] is 

 frequently covered with several feet of snow. During my stay 

 there I experienced several frosty nights. After a few rough and 

 cold nights, which made insects scarce, I shifted on the 23rd to a 

 well sheltered place called Wilson's Valley, at an altitude of about 

 5000 feet and stayed there for the remainder of my time. Being 

 favoured with exceptionally fine weather for the time of the year, 

 I was lucky enough to obtain in this locality many fine insects, 

 and the greater number of the Peripatus was also 

 obtained here, but only one variety which I did not get amongst 

 the four specimens from the higher altitude." 



Apart from the fact that this is the largest number of specimens 

 yet obtained in any one locality, and from their occurrence at 

 high altitudes, the collection is interesting for an usually large 

 proportion (about 50 per cent.) of males the cliaracters of which 

 will be referred to later on. 



Before Mr. Helms's visit it would certainly not have occurred 

 to ever}' one that under existing conditions Mt. Kosciusko was an 

 unusually favourable neighbourhood in which to look for Peripatus ; 

 but bearing in mind the archaic characters of Peripatus, and what 

 the geologists tell us of the probability that " the eastern portion 

 of the continent during the Lower Tertiary Period must have been, 

 submerged to the extent of about 4000 feet below its present level 



* Records of Aust. Mus., Vol. I., No. 1, p. 11. 



