38 PERIPATUS. 



gement; they are surrounded by about 47 rings of warts. 

 The oral papillae possess a naked ring around their middle 

 and are furnished with two rings of warts beneath the 

 slightly bifurcated top. 



There are 24 pairs of claw-bearing legs ; they are not much 

 differentiated from the main body , but look like blunt conical 

 prolongations of the lateral body-wall. Each ambulatory 

 appendage (fig. 2) consists of a proximal and a distal divi- 

 sion , that we may call, according to Mr. Balfour, the leg and 

 the foot (fig. 3). At the ventral side of the leg, near its 

 distal end , the rings of warts are substituted by four crescent- 

 shaped pads , the external of which is the broadest ; these 

 pads are densely covered with spines , resembling the spines 

 standing on the top of the warts. The foot is attached to the 

 distal end of the leg by a narrowed portion, having a trian- 

 gular form at the ventral side. The remaining part of the 

 ventral side of the foot is divided , by a longitudinal and 

 a transverse groove , into four elevations; the distal end of the 

 foot bears the pair of sickle-shaped claws , on each side of 

 which a large papilla is placed. Near the basal part of the 

 ventral surface of each leg is a fissure , the segmental 

 groove; in the two last pairs of legs however this groove 

 is wanting (fig. 4). I have not been able to observe the 

 external orifices of the segmental organs. 



The opening of the mouth is surrounded by a lip , con- 

 sisting of several ridges , arranged in an external and an 

 internal circle ; the external one is slightly developed and 

 surrounds but the upper two thirds of the internal circle 

 (fig. 5). The internal series consists of a pair of larger rid- 

 ges in front, and a pair of smaller ones behind the oral 

 fissure, while there are four or five ridges on each side. 

 The jaws were not visible , and also by opening the buccal 

 cavity I could not find them out; I regret it therefore 

 the more, as according to Mr. Balfour the form of the 

 jaws differs somewhat in the different species and forms a 

 good specific character. ^) 



]) Quart. Journal of Microsc. Science, Vol. XXIII, 1883, p. 222. 

 Notes from the Leyden Museum , "Vol. VIH. - 



