144 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



climbing the tree it made its way direct for the holes by a series 

 of clumsy, shuffling jumps, and disappeared in one of them. 1 

 know that opossums will adapt themselves to their environment, 

 and in treeless districts will take up their abode in the ground, 

 in stone walls, under rocks, in logs and log fences, but I have 

 never yet seen one that ran away from a tree to go into a hole 

 in the ground. It is probable that the animal lived there, but 

 whether it made the hole itself or simply took possession of what 

 some other animal had made I am unable to settle. If the 

 latter, then probably what animal ? Perphaps some other field 

 naturalist will throw some light on the matter. — A. E. Kitson, 

 Geological Survey Camp, Kongwak, South Gippsland. 15th 

 November, 1901. 



Peripatus. — In the account of the Gembrook camp-out in 

 the Naturalist for December, 1901, p. 121, it is recorded that 

 Peripatus leuckarti was obtained on that occasion. In Proc. 

 Linnean Soc, New South Wales, 1895, pp. 172 and 195, it is 

 shown that the common or larger Victorian Peripatus is not 

 P. leuckarti, Sangar, but a species which, on account of its egg- 

 laying habit, is named F. oviparus by Professor Dendy. Sub- 

 sequently Professor Dendy proposed to erect a new genus, 

 Ooperipatus, for its reception ; and quite recently the same 

 observer has found another species in New Zealand which 

 he has named 0. vlridimaculatus. A fully illustrated paper 

 on the genus Ooperipatus will, I am informed by Professor 

 Dendy, be published by him in a forthcoming number of 

 the Quarterly Journal of Microscopic Science. The only 

 species of Peripatus other than 0. oviparus authentically re- 

 corded from Victoria is the very much rarer P. insignis, Dendy, 

 syn. P. leuckarti, var. iypica, Fletcher. The latter has 14 y)airs 

 of walking legs, while 0. oviparus, in common with the New 

 South Wales species, P. leuckarti, var. orientalis, Fletcher, and 

 the Western Australian P. leuckarti, var. occidentalis, Fletcher, 

 has 15 pairs. As there has been a good deal of confusion in the 

 past regarding the identity of the Peripati occurring in dififerent 

 parts of Australia, it is very desirable that there should be no 

 doubt on this point when the finding of examples is recorded. 

 Students of this interesting group would be gratified if the gentle- 

 man who is responsible for the record in the Naturalist above- 

 mentioned would examine his specimens and publish a note thereon. 

 0. oviparus may be readily distinguished from other Australian 

 forms by having 15 pairs of legs in addition to the one pair of oral 

 papillae, and by the presence in the female of a conspicuous fleshy 

 ovipositor, which is usually extended when the animals are killed. 

 Personally, I should be very pleased to have the opportunity of 

 examining any specimens of Peripatus which members of the 

 Club may meet with during their excursions. — Thos. Steel, 

 c/o Colonial Sugar Refinery Co. Ltd., O'Connell-street, Sydney. 



