352 Miscellaneous. 



(1) Geographical Distribution. — Peripatus Tholloni comes from 

 the Gaboon, that is to say, from a zone intermediate between the 

 Cape and the parts of America -where Peripatus is found. These 

 animals had hitherto remained unknown in this region. 



(2) Number of Limbs. — The American species have many more 

 limbs than the others, generally from 27 to 42 pairs, and, moreover, 

 the number of these appendages varies in different individuals : in 

 the African and Oceanian forms it appears constant for each species ; 

 there are from 17 (14*0 to 21 pairs in the case of the former and 

 15 pairs in the latter. In P. Tholloni the number of limbs is 24 or 

 25 pairs. 



(3) Rudimentary Limbs, position of the Sexual Orifice. — In the 

 American species the genital orifice is situated between the limbs of 

 the penultimate pair, and the limbs of the posterior pair, which are 

 slightly smaller than the rest, have only two arches of spinules 

 instead of four. In the species from the Cape the orifice is sub- 

 terminal and situated far behind the posterior limbs, which are not 

 modified ; in the Oceanian forms the orifice is found at a fairly long 

 distance from the anus, between the posterior limbs, which are also 

 normal. In P. Tholloni the genital aperture occupies the same 

 place as in the American species, but the last pair of limbs, which 

 is furnished with only two arches, is still more reduced ; it is clear 

 that this pair has atrophied in the Oceanian species and that the 

 two posterior pairs have disappeared in P. capensis. From this 

 point of view mention must be made of a species from the Cape, 

 P. L'alfouri, in which the genital orifice, situated near the anus, is 

 found between the greatly reduced posterior limbs, which correspond 

 to the penultimate pair of appendages of P. Tholloni and the 

 American species. 



(4) Structure of the Limbs. — The limbs of the American species 

 are furnished near their extremity with four spinulous arches; in 

 the species from the Cape and from Oceania the proximal arch no 

 longer exists, and only three arches are to be seen. The same 

 applies to P. Tholloni. Moreover, in this species, as in the Austra- 

 lian forms, we do not find papilla? at the base of the pedal portion 

 of the limbs, whereas two of these papillae exist in the case of the 

 species of Peripatus from America and the Cape. 



(5) Nephridial Pores of the Fourth and Fifth Limbs. — On the 

 limbs of the fourth and fifth pairs the nephridial pore is found 

 included between the two proximal spinulous arches in the case of 

 the American species. In P. Tholloni it occupies the same place, 

 but, the proximal arch having disappeared, it appears to lie outside 

 the arches, and even makes a slight indentation in the first of these. 

 In the Oceanian species the indentation is much more pronounced, 

 and the nephridial papilla is found to be almost entirely included 

 in the arch ; lastly, in the species from the Cape the papilla lies 

 completely in the centre of the latter. 



(6) Wrinkles on the Body. — In the American species the wrinkles 

 on the body are not interrupted on the dorsal median line and are 



