MONOGRAPH OP THE GENUS PERIPATDS. 449 



sphere, and are exceedingly susceptible to drought. They 

 avoid light, and are therefore rarely seen, and it is owing to 

 this fact that, though fairly numerous, they were for so 

 long unknown to the inhabitants of the Cape Peninsula. 

 They move with great deliberation, picking their course by 

 means of their antennae and eyes. It is by the former 

 that they acquire a knowledge of the ground over which 

 they are travelling, and by the latter that they avoid the light. 

 The antennas are extraordinarily sensitive, and so delicate 

 indeed, that they seem to be able to perceive the nature of 

 objects without actual contact. When irritated they eject with 

 considerable force the contents of their slime reservoirs. The 

 force is supplied by the sudden contraction of the muscular 

 body wall. They can squirt the slime to the distance of almost 

 a foot. The slime, which appears to be perfectly harmless, is 

 extremely sticky, but it easily comes away from the skin of the 

 animal itself. 



I have never seen them use their apparatus for the capture 

 of prey. So far as I can judge it is used as a defensive weapon ; 

 but this of course will not exclude its offensive use. They will 

 turn their heads to any part of the body which is being irritated 

 and violently discharge their slime at the offending object. 

 Locomotion is effected entirely by means of the legs, with the 

 body fully extended. 



Of their food in the natural state we know nothing ; but it 

 is probably mainly, if not entirely, animal. Those which I kept 

 in cavity eagerly devoured the entrails of their fellows, and 

 the developing young from the uterus. They also like raw 

 sheep's liver. They move their mouths in a suctorial manner, 

 tearing the food with their jaws. They have the power of 

 extruding their jaws from the mouth, and of working them 

 alternately backwards or forwards. This is readily observed in 

 individuals immersed in water. 



The young are born in April and May. They are almost 

 colourless at birth, excepting the antennae, which are green, and 

 their length is 10 to 15 mm. A large female will produce 

 thirty to forty young in one year. The period of gestation is 



