THE GENUS PEEIPATUS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The editors of the posthumous memoir of Professor F. M. 

 Balfour on the anatomy and development of Peripatus 

 capensis stated, in a note at the end of the memoir, their inten- 

 tion of preparing a complete monograph of the known species 

 of Peripatus. This intention has at length been carried out, 

 and the present monograph is the result of a laborious exami- 

 nation of all the specimens of Peripatus to which it has been 

 possible to get access. 



To mv great regret Professor Moseley has been obliged, by 

 his most unfortunate illness, to withdraw from active participa- 

 tion in the work ; and the whole responsibility for the state- 

 ments and descriptions falls upon me alone. But he has given 

 me much valuable assistance, and has made some substantial 

 contributions to the monograph. The most important of the 

 latter relate to Peripatus novce-zealandice. He examined this 

 species with great care, and the drawings from which figs. 16, 

 17_20, and 30 were copied, were executed under his 

 supervision. 



The material at my disposal has been as follows : 



1. The material left by Professor Balfour. This comprised 

 a large number of the Cape species collected by Mr. Lloyd 

 Morgan and by the late Mr. Oakley of the South African 

 Museum, and some specimens of the New Zealand species col- 

 lected by Professor Moseley and Professor Jeffrey Parker. 

 Balfour also had fourteen specimens from Caracas, sent him, 

 I believe, by Professor Ernst, and one specimen from South 

 Africa, of the exact locality of which I am ignorant, with 

 twenty-two pairs of legs. This specimen was found by Mr. 

 Mansel Weale, and given to Balfour by Mr. Wood Mason. 



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