378 PilOF. W. J. DAK.1N ON THE 



of the glatid-diict wliicli opens to the exterior is provided with 

 a swollen circular lip which forms the crural papilla. The 

 surrounding epidermis is retractile and may he invaginated 

 to form a little Crioral Pit. The crural papilla is then quite 

 invisible from the exterior, but this is merely a temporary con- 

 dition, and consequently there is no point in counting visible 

 crural papillae in these animals unless the count is checked by 

 sections. With the exception of the last pair of glands, opening 

 on the last pair of appendages, the aperture of the gland leads to 

 a narrow duct bounded by small cubical cells. This duct runs 

 upwards to open into a large vesicle which extends distally and 

 occupies quite a large extent of the leg-cavity. The vesicle itself, 

 i. e., the crural gland proper (see PI. lY. fig. 10) is lined by a 

 layer of small and compact cubical epithelial cells with large nuclei 

 centrally placed. The glands are usually readily distinguished 

 by reason of the contents, which in sections stained with hfema- 

 toxylin and eosin appear bright pink. Still more characteristic 

 is the fact that the contents are perfectly homogeneous and 

 nou-graniolar. 



The first 'jKiir of Crural Glands diflers considerably from all the 

 I'est. The duct opens in the same manner as in the succeeding 

 glands but instead of leading to a sac in the leg it passes into the 

 lateral cavity of the body and opens into an elongated sac which 

 runs almost the entire length of the animal (see PI. I. fig. 3, 

 Cr.Gl.'). This tubular gland can be easily picked out in transverse 

 sections, for it is always cut transversely and lies not far from 

 the lateral nerve-cord and below the salivary gland in sections 

 where this is also present. The structure of its wall is quite 

 characteristic. 



These extraordinary crural glands of the first legs were dis- 

 covered in the West Australian Peripatoides from the hills near 

 Perth by Bouvier. They are noted in his monogi'aph as peculiar 

 to the species. It is important, therefore, to note that the saiiie 

 feature is present in the southern variety — in short, this character 

 is peculiar to both West Australian varieties of Peripatoides. 



The Crural Glands of the penultimate legs are extremely 

 minute. The duct is short and leads into a very small vesicle. 

 Bouvier was uncertain as to whether crural glands existed here 

 at all. He was unable to find them in his specimens. 



The Crural Glands of the last ^>a?V of legs are veiy different 

 from all the others. The ducts pass direct from the legs into the 

 central body-cavity, where they lead into two somewhat wide 

 tubes which run forwards entangled in the coils of the gonoducts 

 (see PI. 1. fig. 3, Cr.Gl."). 



Orui-al glaiids and crural papillte are features of the male sex, 

 but in Willey's account of the Anatomy and Development of 

 Peri^Kitus novoi-hritanniai (13) the following reference occiu-s 

 to crural glands in the female: "Wherever they occur (crural 

 glands) they are found only in the male excejot in P. caj^evsis. 

 whei-e they aro said to occur in the female also (Sheldon j. 



