Abstract
AMONG the acquisitions I made during my journey to the West India Island of Trinidad, a rich collection of Peripatus stands in the first rank. This has put me in a position to correct many mistakes, and to contribute a good deal to the knowledge of the histological anatomy of this interesting animal form, as well as especially to follow the process of development from beginning to end. Postponing for the present the anatomy of the adult animal, inasmuch as we have on this subject a good many studies, some of which are very good (for instance, that of Gaffron in Zool. Beiträge, edited by Dr. A. Schneider), I shall confine myself to a preliminary notice of the earliest stages of the development of Peripatus, although my investigations have not as yet been brought to a conclusion, nor have I been able to devote any attention to the development of the organs. I do this chiefly because the treatise published by Moseley and Sedgwick from the posthumous notes of Balfour contains some representations of embryos and cross-sections of the same, upon whose accuracy in details I, with my rich and well preserved collection of specimens, and observations on fresh objects, must cast some doubt, and the interpretation of which does not bear investigation. And yet these already serve as evidence for some theoretical explanations of embryonic processes in other groups of animals, which it would be well to avoid in such a case.
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On the Development of Peripatus 1 . Nature 29, 92–93 (1883). https://doi.org/10.1038/029092a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/029092a0