NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 229 
suspected by Quatrefages. That it is a very ancient form is 
proved by its wide and very peculiar distribution. Species of the 
genus occur at the Cape of Good Hope, in Australia, in New 
Zealand, in Chili, in the Isthmus of Panama and its neighbour- 
hood, and in the West Indies. If its horny jaws were only larger, 
Mr. Moseley thinks, they would no doubt be found fossil in strata 
as old as the Old Red Sandstone at least. He makes the 
following observations on its structure and habits :— 
“ The animal is provided with large glands, which secrete a clear viscid 
fluid, which it has the power of ejecting from two papille, placed one on 
either side of the mouth. When the animal is touched or irritated it 
discharges this fluid, with great force and rapidity, in fine thread-like jets. 
These jets form a sort of net-work in front of the animal, which looks like 
a spider’s web with dew upon it, and appears as if by magic, so instan- 
taneously is it emitted. The viscid substance, which is not irritant when 
placed on the tongue, is excessively tenacious, like bird-lime, and when 
I put some on a slip of glass, some flies approaching it were at once caught 
and held fast. It appears from the observations of Captain Hutton on the 
New Zealand species, that the jet of slime is used by the animal not only as 
a means of offence, but to catch insects on which the animal feeds. I found 
only vegetable matter in the stomachs of the Cape species, and concluded 
that the animals were vegetable feeders. The animals live, at the Cape, in 
or under dead wood, and I found nearly all my specimens at Wynberg, 
in Mr. Maynard’s garden, in decayed fallen willow logs, which were in the 
condition of touchwood. I tore the logs to pieces, and found the animals 
curled up inside. ‘lhe animals are very local, and not by any means 
abundant, so that an offer of half-a-crown for a specimen to boys did not 
produce a single example. My colleague, the late Von Willemoes Suhm, 
and I, both searched hard for Peripatus. He was unsuccessful; but I was 
lucky enough to find a fine specimen first under an old cart-wheel at 
Wynberg. Immediately that I opened this one I saw its trachee and the 
fully-formed young within it. Had my colleague lighted on the specimen 
he would no doubt have made the discovery instead. Peripatus capensis is 
nocturnal in its habits. Its gait is exactly like that ofa caterpillar, the 
feet moving in pairs, and the body being entirely supported upon them. 
The animals can move with considerable rapidity. They have a remarkable 
power of extension of the body, and when walking stretch to nearly twice 
the length they have when at rest.” 
We have been tempted to quote these remarks at length, on 
account of their originality, and because they furnish a good 
illustration of the author’s style, and his careful mode of 
