The HatcJiing of a Peripatus Egg. 1 \ 9 



inside. The egg was lying on a small piece of rotten wood which 

 rested on the glass floor of the hatching-box. 



On 3rd January, 1893, not having opened the box for some 

 days, I made an examination. The ^^;^ was in its former position, 

 so far as I could tell, but the shell was split on one side and the 

 young Peripatus had escaped. This young Peripatus was found 

 lying dead on the glass bottom of the hatching-box, 25 mm. 

 distant from the shell. It must have crawled oif the rotten wood 

 and along the glass to the position in which it was found. It was 

 only about 5 mm. in length, so that, even assuming that it moved 

 in a perfectly straight line, it must have crawled for a distance 

 five times its own length. 



To the naked eye the young animal appeared of a pale greenish 

 colour. It cannot have been dead for very many days, but decom- 

 position had already set in and the animal was stuck on to the 

 glass on which it lay. It was impossible to remove it without 

 considerable injury, but I ultimately succeeded in mounting it in 

 Canada balsam, and it is impossible, even in its present condition, 

 to doubt that it really is a young Peripatus, for the characteristic 

 jaws and claws are well shown. I also mounted the ruptured egg- 

 shell, and found that the characteristic sculpturing on the outside 

 was still clearly visible. 



This egg, then, hatched out after being laid for about seventeen 

 months (from about July, 1891, to about the end of December, 

 1893). I cannot believe that under natural conditions the 

 embryos take so long to develop. They were possibly retarded 

 by being kept in a very cool room. At any rate it now appears 

 certain that the larger Victorian Peripatus lays eggs which may 

 hatch after a lapse of a year and five months. 



