12 THE NORTH AMERICAN SLIME-MOULDS 



The fact is the Myxomycetes constitute an exceedingly well- 

 defined group, and the question of relationship in any direction 

 need not much perplex the student. Least of all is the 

 question to be settled by anybody's dictum, which is apt to 

 be positive inversely in proportion to the speaker's acquaint- 

 ance with the subject. No one test can be applied as a 

 universal touchstone to separate plants from animals. Such is 

 simply pctitio principii. Nor is there any advantage at present 

 apparent in attempts to associate Slime-moulds with other 

 presumably related groups. Saville Kent's effort to join them 

 with the sponges was not happy, and Dr. Zopf's association 

 of the Slime-moulds and monads appears forced, at best ; for 

 when it comes to the consideration of the former, their sys- 

 tematic and even morphological treatment, he is compelled 

 to deal with them by themselves under headings such as 

 " Eumycetozoen," " Hohere Pilzthiere," etc. One rather com- 

 mends the discreetness of the lamented De Bary, whose pains- 

 taking investigations first called attention to the uncertain 

 position of the group. After reviewing the results of all his 

 labors De Bary does not quite relegate the Slime-moulds to 

 the zoologist for further consideration, but simply says : l 

 "From naked amoebae, with which the Mycetozoa ( = Afyxo- 

 mycetcs) are connected in ascending line, the zoologists with 

 reason derive the copiously and highly developed section of 

 the shell-forming Rhizopoda. . . . And since there are suffi- 

 cient grounds for placing the rhizopods outside the vegetable 

 and in the animal kingdom, and this is undoubtedly the true 

 position for the amoebae, which are their earlier and simpler 

 forms, the Mycetozoa, which may be directly derived from the 

 same stem, are at least brought very near to the domain of 

 zoology." 



Notwithstanding all the controversy in regard to the matter, 

 the study of the Slime-moulds still rests chiefly with the bota- 

 nists. The simplest scheme of classification for the Thallophytes 

 is that offered by Goebel, as follows : 



1 Cf., 1884, Ver. Morph. u. Biol. der Pih. Mycet. u. Bact., p. 478. 



