BY ARTHUR DENDY. 273 



proved by their development. It may also be as well to relate 

 the fate of the parent animals by which the eggs were laid. 



It may be remembered that on the 31st July, 1891, when the 

 eggs were first found, there were in the vivarium three females 

 and one male, all apparently in good health. The male specimen 

 died shortly afterwards, but on August 17th the females were 

 still all alive and apparently healthy. On August 31st, as 

 mentioned in a postscript to my first communication on the 

 subject, one of the female specimens was found dead. On being 

 dissected the reproductive organs appeared very well developed, 

 but, although the ovary and oviducts were both large (the former 

 containing a great many ovarian eggs), there was not a single egg 

 in either of the oviducts, all having been doubtless laid. 



On September 16th the two remaining females were still alive. 

 I killed and dissected one. The organs appeared healthy and 

 well developed. In the lower part of each oviduct one large egg 

 was found. The eggs presented the usual characters, having a 

 very thick but unsculptured envelope filled with yolk. Both 

 eggs were cut open and examined microscopically, but I did not 

 succeed in recognising any trace of an embryo in either. 



On completely turning out the vivarium and examining its 

 contents carefully I found one more Peripatus egg amongst the 

 rotten wood (September 16th). It looked much healthier than 

 those which had previously been transferred from the vivarium, 

 many of the latter having already begun to shrivel up and acquire 

 a dark colour. In the newly found egg, and also in the healthier 

 looking of those previously obtained, there now appeared to be a 

 dark spot in the interior, but this was only dimly visible through 

 the thick sculptured shell. 



On September 2.5th the last remaining female was still appar- 

 ently in good health, but on October 1st it was found dead — how 

 long it had been so I do not know. On dissection I found the 

 internal organs in a bad condition. Neither eggs nor embryos 

 were visible in the oviducts. The ducts of the slime glands were 



