INGESTION OF FOOD-MATERTAL BY MYCETOZOA. 435 
Notes on the Ingesti:n of Food-material by the Swarm-cells 
of Mycetozoa. By Artuur Lister, F.L.S. 
[Read 4th April, 1889.] 
BEFORE proceeding to describe the manner in which the swarm- 
cells of Mycetozoa take in and digest their food-material, it may 
not be out of place to refer to some experiments bearing on the 
mode of feeding of the plasmodium of Badhamia utricularis, the 
account of which appeared in the ‘Annals of Botany’ for June 
1888. In that paper I described the action of the plasmodium on 
starch, as well as on thin slices of Agaricus campestris and other 
fungi ; I especially drew attention to its feeding on living Stereum 
hirsutum, the favourite pabulum of this species of Badhamia. 
In following those experiments I observed that when the 
plasmodium had become loaded with the food-material with 
which it had been supplied, many of the large vacuoles became 
charged with undigested matter, which collected asa dark ball in 
the centre of the hyaline contents of the vacuole. I repeatedly 
saw these vacuoles push out as bubbles on the surface of the 
plasmedium and burst, discharging a cloud of refuse, consisting 
of fragments of starch and broken fungus-hyphe, into the 
water. 
When the plasmodium creeps over a glass plate and is not 
immersed in water, the rejected matter is left with a certain 
amount of plasmodium substance on each side of the retreating 
veins, leaving a map of the network after the plasmodium has 
withdrawn. 
This appears to be of some interest in its relation to the 
behaviour of swarm-cells deseribed in the sequel. 
The following account of a cultivation of plasmodium from the 
spores of Chondrioderma difforme has also a bearing on the 
same :— 
These spores germinated in water under a coverslip in about 
twelve hours. On the 11th day after sowing, many of the 
swarm-cells had assumed the character of microcysts, and a large 
proportion had withdrawn their cilia and were moving slowly as 
amcebee, with a tendency to adhere when they came together. 
On the 13th day several young plasmodia were seen with 
rhythmie streaming of their granular contents, the current, con- 
tinuing for about a minute in each direction. l l 
When in their wanderings the young plasmodia met, or came 1n 
9 
LINN. JOURN.—POTANY, VOL. XXV. ou 
