Vol. XXXV. August, 1918. No. 2 



BIOLOGICAL BULLETIN 



THE CYTOLOGY OF THE MYXOMYCETES WITH 

 SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MITOCHONDRIA. 1 



N. H. COWDRY. 

 ANATOMICAL LABORATORY, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. 



The Myxomycetes, or Slime moulds, constitute a most in- 

 teresting group of organisms since they are at once so primitive 

 and so specialized and partake of the distinctive properties of 

 both animals and plants. They stand as a sort of link between 

 the two kingdoms. In the plasmodial phase of their existence, 

 for example, they look like gigantic amoebae, crawl from place to 

 place, exhibit typical protoplasmic streaming and actively 

 phagocytize foreign particles. In the reproductive phase, on the 

 other hand, they form brilliantly colored fungous-like masses 

 strongly suggestive of plants. It is not surprising, therefore, 

 that they have attracted so much interest among botanists and 

 zoologists alike. Their general form and nuclear structure has 

 been carefully worked up, but no attempt has been made to ex- 

 tend to them the recent work on mitochondria. This is all the 

 more surprising, because the unique properties of these organisms 

 would lead one to suppose that a careful study of mitochondria 

 in them might yield valuable information bearing upon the 

 Myxomycetes themselves, as well as upon the vexed problem of 

 the general functional significance of mitochondria. 



MATERIAL AND METHODS. 



The following species of Myxomycetes -have been studied : 

 Arcyria denudata, Fuligo septica, 



Badhamia - , Hemitrichia vesparium, 



1 Contributions from the Anatomical Laboratory, Peking Union Medical 

 College, No. 2. 



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