102 OBSERVATIONS ON PERIPATUS, 



pigment is plain on the antennie and those parts of the skin 

 which, in after life, are darkest. I have frequently witnessed the 

 natural birtli of the young, and have succeeded in keeping them 

 alive for over twelve months. When newly born they are about 

 5 mm. in length, without the antennte, and from frequent 

 measurements I have found the rate of growth during the 12 

 months which I had them under observation to be rather less 

 than 1 mm. per month. 



Pregnant females somewhat readily extrude the young when 

 distressed by close confinement or uncomfortaljle conditions. 

 Frequently soft adventitious eggs are laid. These bear no 

 resemblance to those described by Dendy from P. oviparus.* but 

 are quite smooth and have a very flaccid thin envelope. They 

 \ery soon break up into a drop of turbid liquid. My supposition 

 is that they are merely ova which have escaped fei'tilization, and 

 are thus making their natural exit from the bod3^ 



From my own observations I have seen the young born at all 

 times, from the middle of November till the middle of March. 

 Females which I had in captivity from January, 1895, began to 

 give birth to young at the former date, and continued doing so for 

 over a month, while specimens collected in December, January and 

 February of different years, had young in the course of these and 

 the following months. 



So far as my observations go. the young follow the colours of 

 the mother. Mothers, in whom brown is the prevailing colour, 

 have young of a similar character, and those that are black have 

 dark progeny. 



I have never noticed the presence of external parasites of any 

 kind on Peripatus. 



During the colder months they become sluggish, and remain for 

 considerable periods without eating, but in the warmer part of 



P.L.S.N.S.W. (2Ser.) x. 195. 



