NOTES ON THE PERIPATUS OF DOMINICA. 285 



Notes on the Peripatus of Dominica. 

 By 



£. €. Pollard, B.Sc.L.ond. 



With Plate 17. 



A NUMBER of specimens of Peripatus from Dominica, West 

 Indies, have recently been handed over to me for description 

 by Professor Ray Lankester, to whom I owe my best thanks 

 for intrusting me with this material. The specimens were 

 collected by Mr. Ramage in Dominica, and sent, some alive, 

 some preserved in alcohol, to Professor Lankester. 



I had, in all, eighty-six individuals, of which fourteen had 

 been opened in salt solution before preserving, whilst the rest 

 were preserved whole. 



Size. — There are considerable differences in size ; the 

 length, measured without the antennae, varying from a mini- 

 mum of 17 mm. to a maximum of 50 mm. 



The males are, as a rule, much smaller than the females, 

 and they are also much less numerous. Out of thirty-nine 

 specimens in which I determined the sex only eight are males, 

 and of these the largest is only 25 mm. in length. 



On the other hand, a good-sized female measures 42 mm. 



There are one or two apparent exceptions to this generalisa- 

 tion, one of the females being only 17 mm. and another only 

 19 mm. long; but from the fact that I have not found any 

 males longer than 25 mm., and also that the majority of the 



