276 LILIAN SHELDON. 



complete series, as the preservation was in almost all cases 

 satisfactory. 



All my material was provided for me ready preserved by 

 Mr. Sedgwick, who also placed at my disposal a number of 

 series of sections which he had cut of the early stages of the 

 Cape species. For this kindness, as well as for much valuable 

 advice and assistance which he gave me throughout my work, 

 I wish to express my very sincere thanks. 



Peripatus capensis. 



Structure of the Ovary. — The ovary has the same 

 general anatomical structure in all the species of Peripatus in 

 which it has been hitherto described. 



In P. capensis it consists of a pair of tubes lying parallel 

 to one another and to the long axis of the body, and uniting 

 anteriorly, where the ovary is attached to the ventral wall of 

 the pericardium. Posteriorly they also unite into a short 

 common duct, which almost immediately divides into the two 

 oviducts. 



The epithelial lining of the ovary is of two kinds (v. fig. 1). 

 On the inner side of each tube it is thin and flat, with very 

 distinct nuclei ; while on the outer it is very thick (figs. 1 and 3). 

 It is this thick mass which is the germinal epithelium. 



Towards the end of April, i.e. shortly after all the ova have 

 passed from the ovary into the uterus, the germinal epithelium 

 ibrms a very thick mass, consisting of protoplasm with, nuclei, 

 and the remains of spermatozoa scattered through it (fig. 1). 

 The protoplasm shows no cell outlines even when examined 

 under a high power of the microscope, and is then seen to 

 consist of a loose, irregular, spongy mass. A small portion of 

 the ovarian wall at the junction of the germinal with the thin 

 epithelium is shown in fig. 2, which was drawn with Reichert's 

 -JU oil immersion lens ; on the side which lies towards the body 

 cavity there is an irregular layer of nuclei lying more or less 

 parallel to the surface, and on that which is directed towards 



