DISTRIBUTION OF PERIPATUS. 573 



Peripatus the coelom does not develop a peri visceral portion r 

 but gives rise only to the renal and reproductive organs. 



Peripatus Guilding. Soft-bodied vermiform animals, with one pair of 

 ringed antennae, one pair of jaws, one pair of oral papillae, and a varying 

 number of claw-bearing ambulatory legs. Dorsal surface arched and 

 more darkly pigmented than the flat ventral surface. Skin transversely 

 ridged and beset by wart-like spiniferous papillae. Mouth anterior, 

 ventral ; anus posterior, terminal. Generative opening single, median, 

 ventral, and posterior. One pair of simple eyes. Brain large with two 

 ventral hollow appendages ; ventral cords widely divaricated, without 

 distinct ganglia. Alimentary canal simple, uncoiled. Segmentally ar- 

 ranged, paired nephridia are present. Body cavity is continuous with the 

 vascular system, and does not communicate with the paired nephridia. 

 Heart tubular, with paired ostia. Respiration by means of tracheae. 

 Dioecious ; males smaller and generally less numerous than females. 

 Generative glands tubular, continuous with the ducts. Viviparous 

 (except two or three of the Australasian species), the young being born fully 

 developed. They shun the light, and live in damp places beneath stones, 

 leaves, and bark of rotten stumps. They eject when irritated a viscid 

 fluid through openings at the apex of the oral papillae. 



Distribution : South Africa, Australasia (Australia, N. Zealand, Tas- 

 mania), New Britain, South America and West Indies, Malaya (Malay 

 Peninsula and Sumatra), Equatorial Africa, and Chili. 



The species, of which between 50 and 60 are known, fall into seven dis- 

 continuous geographical groups, the members of which are more closely 

 related to each other than to those of any other group. Although we 

 deprecate as unnecessary the elevation of these groups in the present state 

 of knowledge to the rank of genera, we think that it would be convenient 

 to give them names which would connect them with their respective 

 geographical areas. The names and distribution of these groups, 

 together with the generic names which have been applied to them by 

 various authors are as follows : 



Neo-Peripatus (Peripatus). Neotropical Region (West Indies and 

 America from Mexico in the North to Rio de Janeiro in the South). 29 

 species. 



Congo-Peri patus (Mesoperipatus Evans). Congo district in West Africa. 

 1 species. 



Eo-Peripatus (Eoperipatus Evans). Malaya (Malacca and Sumatra). 

 4 species. 



Capo-Peripatus (including Peripatopsis Pocock and Opisthopatus Purcell). 

 South Africa (Natal to Cape Town). 7 species. 



Melano-Peripatus (Paraperipatus Willey). Melanesia (New Britain 

 1 species. 



Austro-Peripatus (Peripatoides Pocock and Ooperipatus Dendy). Aus- 

 tralasia (Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand). 8 species. 



Chilio-Peripatus (Opisthoptau? Bouvier). Chili. 1 species. 



N.B. The characters marked with an * are peculiar to the group in 

 which it is found. 



Neo-Peripatus is generally distributed in the neotropical Region from 

 Rio de Janeiro to Mexico and in the West Indian Islands. West of the 

 Andes its southern limit appears to be Bolivia. The species on the high 



