ANTARCTIC TARDIGRADA 10] 



first rod (nearest the gullet) is about three times, the second about twice as long as 

 broad. There is no "comma." 



The claws are of the Diphascon type, but the longest claw is less in excess of 

 the others than usual. The lesser pair has one claw considerably longer than the 

 other. 



The eggs are unknown ; eyes were not seen ; there are no notes about the 

 stomach or fat-cells. 



The animal is not sufficiently studied for identification. Although technically a 

 Diphascon, there is some reason to think that it is a sport of a Macrobiotics. It 

 will be noticed that, apart from the elongated gullet, the teeth and pharynx are very 

 like those of M. arcticus (Fig. 26). 



As that species also has claws of the Diphascon type, there is little to separate the 

 two. The elongation of the gullet is less than in any Diphascon except angustatum, 

 and the portion between the bearers and the pharynx did not appear flexible. 



A similar slightly elongated gullet is known in an animal having claws of the 

 dispar type, and therefore certainly no Diphascon. 



Found among dried vegetation, probably of lake origin, which also contained 

 M. arcticus and its eggs. 



REMARKS ON THE ANTARCTIC TARDIGRADE FAUNA. 



The Antarctic is defined for the purposes of this paper as comprising the whole 

 Antarctic Continent, not excepting the small part which lies outside the Antarctic 

 Circle, and such islands lying off the coast as enjoy a similar frigid climate to that of 

 the continent itself. It is a region where the summer temperature of the air is never 

 very far above freezing-point. The sea is for the most part permanently of a tem- 

 perature somewhere between the freezing-point of fresh and that of sea water. It 

 is a desolate and inhospitable region, presenting a remarkable contrast to the North 

 Polar region, which has a relatively genial climate in latitudes several degrees higher 

 than any in which biological studies have been attempted in the south. 



So far as known there is no life in the Antarctic except on or very near the coast. 

 The remotest living thing recorded for the Antarctic is probably the Lichen obtained 

 by Captain Scott at an altitude of 5000 feet in the Western Mountains. This is a 

 remarkable occurrence. The summer climate there is like the winter polar climate on 

 the coast. The occurrence of Penguins 80 miles from the sea is an altogether different 

 case, as they could not live there. Like the men who saw them they were provisioned 

 and clothed for a journey to a distance from their base. So hardy are the Lichens 

 that one wonders whether there may not be some on the bare rocks of Mount Hope or 

 the Cloudmaker. If one had time on such journeys for such things, and if a keen- 

 eyed lichenologist were of the party, it is not unlikely that he would detect some 

 stains which no one else would recognise for Lichens. 



