132 MR. W. L. SCLATER ON [Feb. 1, 



collar. P. blainvUlii, the species described by Gay from Chili, 

 seems also to be distinct, as posessing only 1 9 pairs of legs. 



All the other forms from the above-mentioned localities, including 

 Kennel's second species from Trinidad, seem, so far as one can judge 

 from the descriptions, to resemble one another very closely, except 

 as regards slight variations in the number of pairs of legs. Thus 

 Guildiiig's species {P . juliformis) is described as possessing 33 pairs 

 of legs ; vphile the form from Caraccas is said by Dr. Ernst to have 

 31 pairs in the adult, and only 29 when first born. All my specimens 

 from Demerara of all ages agree in having 30 pairs of legs. 



Another point in which the Demeraran form seems to differ from 

 the other forms described is that the colour of the antennae is black. 

 This point is not specially mentioned in the descriptions of the other 

 American Peripati. 



I have also examined the examples of Peripatus in the British 

 Museum. Of all the examples of the genus in the National collection 

 there is only one specimen which seems to resemble my form ; it is 

 that labelled " Peripatus from Dominica, found under logs." The 

 animal in question was obtained in Dominica and presented to the 

 British Museum by the late Mr. G. F. Angas, C.M.Z.S., and has 

 been noticed by Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell (28). 



The Peripatus from Dominica resembles the Demeraran form in 

 the following points : — the black antennae ; the general colour, so 

 far as can be judged from the spirit-preserved specimens ; the number 

 of legs (30 pairs) ; and also in another point which I have not 

 hitherto mentioned, but which seems to otfer characters useful for 

 distinguishing the various species : this is the shape of the slits on 

 the under surface of the feet. 



In all the American specimens examined by me at the British 

 Museum this slit is split-shaped ; but in my specimens and in 

 that from Dominica the openings are in many cases rounded, and 

 sometimes have attached to them a bladder-shaped appendage, as 

 mentioned by Prof. Bell (28). 



It seems to me therefore that there are only three species oi Peri- 

 patus yet satisfactorily determined in South America. 



1. P. torquatus, Kennel, from Trinidad. 



2. P. blainvillii. Gay, from Chili. 



3. P. edwardsi, Blanchard {juliformis, Guilding ?), from Cay- 

 enne, British Guiana, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and several of the 

 West-India Islands. 



To these three species must be added a fourth, from Dominica and 

 British Guiana, distinguished by the following points : — 



(1) The black antennae. 



(2) Thirty pairs of feet and one pair of oral papillae. 



(3) The darker and redder colour; the other forms being a dirty 

 brown colour as far as can be seen in the spirit specimens. 



(4) The rounded openings to the foot-pits. 



(5) The black marking in the median dorsal line in these forms, 

 ■which is much more definite than in any of the others from South 

 America, 



