CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 161 



Captain Hutton on the New Zealand species,* that the jet of 

 slime is used by the animal not only as a means of offence, but 

 to catch insects, on which the animal feeds. 



I found only vegetable matter in the stomachs of the Cape 

 species, and concluded that the animals were vegetable feeders. 

 The animals live at the Cape in or under dead wood, and I 

 found nearly all my specimens at Wynberg, in Mr. Maynard's 

 garden, in decayed fallen willow logs, which were in the con- 

 dition of touchwood. I tore the logs to pieces, and found the 

 animals curled up inside. 



The animals are very local, and not by any means abundant, 

 so that an offer of half-a-crown for a specimen to boys did not 

 produce a single example. My colleague, the late Von Willemoes 

 Suhm, and I both searched hard for Peripatus. He was unsuc- 

 cessful ; but I was lucky enough to find a fine specimen first 

 under an old cart-wheel at Wynberg. Immediately that I 

 opened this one I saw its trachea? and the fully-formed young 

 within it. Had my colleague lighted on the specimen he would 

 no doubt have made the discovery instead. 



Peripatus capensis is- nocturnal in its habits. Its gait is 

 exactly like that of a caterpillar, the feet moving in pairs, and 

 the body being entirely supported upon them. The animals can 

 move with considerable rapidity. They have a remarkable 

 power of extension of the body, and when walking stretch to 

 nearly twice the length they have when at rest.f 



Had I not been engaged for so long a time in working at 

 Peripatus, I should have certainly paid a visit to the Knysna 

 Forest, accessible by steamer from Cape Town, which contains 

 wild elephants preserved by Government, and numerous ante- 

 lopes, and other large animals. My principal object in going, 

 however, would have been to see the curious bird, the Touracou 

 (Turacus albocristatus), one of the Plantain-eaters. This bird has 

 bright red feathers in its wings, the red colouring matter of which 



* Capt. F. W. Hutton, "On Peripatus Novse Zealandiae." Ann. and 

 Mag. Nat. Hist,, 1876, p. 362. 



t For a detailed account of the anatomy, and development of Peripatus 

 Capensis, see H. N. Moseley, "On the Anatomy and Development of 

 Peripatus Capensis." Phil. Trans. E. Soc, 1874, p. 757. 



M 



