49 
June, 1939 The Queensland Naturalist 
from small reservoirs in the oral papillae of the head. 
According to Hutton, this slime is used for catching 
their prey. 
Peripatus has now been found in the following 
countries: — South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, New 
Britain, South America, AA^est Indies and the Malay 
Peninsula. Generally speaking, the number of species 
and individuals is remarkably small. Whether this is 
due to the difficulty of finding them or whether they 
are very rare is difficult to say. During the last 14 
years the following are the only specimens which, to my 
knowledge, have been found in Queensland. Possibly 
other specimens have been found, but they have not 
been recorded. One adult, Dunk Is. (AY. Cottrell- 
Dormer) ; one adult, National Park (J. H. Simmonds) ; 
Upper Albert River, seven specimens (A. Ross, W. Sim- 
monds, M. Grimes, D. Tabrett, P. Marks, F. A. Perkins) ; 
one adult, Toowoomba filter beds (N. Yeates) ; 
Caloundra (J. L. Groom) ; Mt. Gravatt (F. Chippindale) ; 
Lake B'arrine and Fraser Island (R. J. Tillyard) ; a total 
of 15 specimens. 
Three of the specimens (two adults and one half 
grown) which were collected recently at the Upper 
Albert River are still alive, and one of them has given 
birth to two young. The young were produced at inter- 
vals of a week, and soon after birth were about 5 mm. 
long and greyish white in colour. In three weeks they 
changed to a brown colour like their parent and doubled 
their size. An attempt is being made to bring them to 
maturity. 
All the specimens collected during the last few years 
are either black or brown in colour, and the largest 
measured about two inches in length. All of them, 
irrespective of their size, have fifteen pairs of legs. 
With regard to their general appearance Sedgwick, 
who regarded them as animals of exceptional beauty, 
states: “The exquisite sensitiveness and constantly 
changing form of the antennae, the well-rounded, plump 
body, the eyes set like small diamonds on the side of the 
head, the delicate feet, and above all, the rich colouring 
and velvety texture of the skin, all combine to give 
these animals an aspect of quite exceptional beauty. 
These animals, so far as skin is concerned, are not sur- 
passed in the animal kingdom. ” 
