190 A VIVIPAROUS AUSTRALIAN PERIPATUS, 



F. capensis is thus probably the months of November, December 

 and January, the three Cape summer months. Observations are 

 required on the mode of congress of the sexes, and on the time and 

 manner of the birth of the young " (p. 766). The subsequent 

 investigations of Sedgwick established the fact that the young of 

 P. capetisis are born in April and May (Monograph, p. 165) ; 

 Moseley's stay at the Cape in H.M.S. " Challenger " lasted from 

 October 28th to December 17th, 1873, and his paper (Phil. Trans. 

 Vol, clxiv. p. 757) is marked "received April 9, read May 21, 

 1874." His own words on the subject of viviparity are: '^ Peri- 

 patics was naturally the first animal sought after by the naturalists 

 of the 'Challenger' expedition on their arrival at the Cape of 

 Good Hope, and I was lucky enough to find a considerable number 

 of specimens on the very first occasion of searching for them. 

 My intention had been only to try to keep the animals alive, so as 

 to obtain their eggs and watch their development, but on opening 

 one large specimen I immediately recognised the presence of 

 trachete, and found the animal to be viviparous and full of far-, 

 advanced embryos" (I.e. p. 757). In this passage it is noticeable 

 that Moseley speaks of his finding the animal to be viviparous 

 before he mentions embryos. From " Notes of a Naturalist on 

 the 'Challenger'" it further appears (p. 161) that the specimen 

 referred to was the first specimen met with. Moseley thus 

 furnishes a safe criterion for determining whether a species of 

 Peripatus is viviparous ; and not only so, but he also gives 

 authority for speaking of such a specimen as that to which he 

 refers as a pregnant specimen. For he says that " of twenty 

 female specimens dissected only one was found which did not 

 contain embryos in some stage of development" (p. 766), and (on 

 p. 767) "and in nearly all the pregnant specimens examined, &c.," 

 and on p. 771 " the period of pregnancy " of two of them is spoken 

 of, while the specimen not containing embryos is alluded to as 

 " though, as before-mentioned, one still virgin female was found." 

 Clearly, then, Moseley uses the term pregnant in the ordinary 

 etymological sense of being "in the condition preparatory to 

 bringing forth young," or, briefly, "with young." Additional 

 authority for the use of the word in connection with Peripatus is. 



