BOY) y A. SEDGWICK. 
and possibly Mesoperipatus (Congo), but long discussions 
as to which of them are valid and how they should be 
grouped in families and subfamilies. It has led, in other 
words, to hair-splitting and prolixity. But it has done more 
than this: it has led one investigator, who, by his admirable 
work, had definitely established the existence of a group of 
species (the Malayan) which I had left doubtful, to assert, 
that my grouping of the species has “no foundation in fact,” 
and that it had been “effectually disposed of”; and it has 
led workers at our genus to ignore the real problem at issue, 
and to substitute for it meaningless discussions as to the 
primitiveness of characters and phylogenetic derivation of. 
species. 
Now all this, and the very inappropriate names which have 
been given to some of the genera, would have been avoided if 
a little patience had been exercised and we had been allowed 
to await what future work would bring. To ascertain that 
we need only turn to the important facts which have been 
collected by the recent admirable workers in the subject—to 
the memoirs of Willey, Purcell, Evans, and Bouvier. These 
observers have clearly shown, though some of them would be 
far from admitting it, that the geographical grouping of the 
species is a perfectly sound one, and that no subordination of 
these into families or subfamilies is, in the present state of | 
knowledge, either admissible or desirable. Whether it is 
desirable to coin generic names for these groups seems to me 
a matter of small importance. ‘The important point is to 
recognise the fact that they exist, and to make the utmost 
possible use of it in our attempts to solve the great problem 
of species. 
Personally I think it premature, unnecessary, and incon- 
venient to establish genera at the present moment. At the 
same time, it is convenient to designate each of the seven 
groups by a name which definitely connects it with the 
locality. The names which I venture to suggest are shown 
in the following list: 
