166 THE GENUS PERIPATDS. 



thirteen months, that is to say, the ova pass into the oviducts 

 about one month before the young of the preceding year are 

 born. They are born one by one, and it takes some time for a 

 female to get rid of her whole stock of embryos ; in fact, the 

 embryos in any given female differ slightly in age, those 

 next the oviduct being a little older (a few hours) than 

 those next the vagina. 



The mother does not appear to pay any special attention to 

 her young, which wander away and get their own food. 



There does not appear to be any true copulation. The male 

 deposits small, white, oval spermatophores, which consist of 

 small bundles of spermatozoa cemented together by some glu- 

 tinous substance, indiscriminately on any part of the body of 

 the female. Such spermatophores are found on the bodies of 

 both males and females from July to January, but they appear 

 to be most numerous in our autumn. 



The testes are active from June to the following March. 

 From March to June the vesiculse of the male are empty. 



Peripatus Balfouri (n. sp.). 



South African Peripatus, with eighteen^ pairs of claw-bearing 

 ambulatory legs, of which the last pair is rudimentary ; with 

 white papillae on the dorsal surface. 



Peripatus Balfouri resembles very closely P. capensis. 

 The points of difference are as follows : 



The dorsal skin has an olive-green tinge. The largest 

 papillae are white, except at their free extremities, which are 

 green (fig. 10). The white spreads out a little round the base 

 of the papillae. Brown tints are entirely absent in all the 

 specimens which I have examined except one. 



The ventral surface is whiter than in Capensis, but the 

 papillae are faintly green. The same remark applies to the 

 ventral surface of the legs. 



The Ambulatory Appendages.— The claw-bearing legs 



are eighteen pairs. The legs of the eighteenth pair are smaller 

 1 Peters (No. 25) states that there are in the Berlin Museum specimens 

 from the Cape with eighteen pairs of legs (see p. 171). 



