11 



MYXOMYCKTES OU MYXOGASTERS.— ".%-///e Fmu/ir 



lu their early history the IVIyxomycete.s, or " slime moulds,'' were clussed 

 with the gasteromycetal fungi, and by Fries grouped as a suborder of the 

 Gasteromj'cetes, under the name Myxogasters. From this connection 

 they were severed in 1833 by Link, who, recognizing certain distinctive 

 features which entitled them to consideration as an entirely separate 

 group, ranked the Myxogasters, as a separate order, under the title Myxo- 

 mycetes, ISlinie moulds. De Bary, in a monograph on the subject written 

 some years later, (^uestioued the right of this group to the place assigned 

 it in the vegetable world, claiming that the Myxogasters were as nearly 

 related to the animal as to the vegetable kingdom, and changing the name 

 to Mycetozoa. Massee assailed this position in his " Monograph of the 

 Myxogasters," pointing out that De Bary derived his I'easons and deduc- 

 tions from the early or vegetative stage of the fungi, without taking suf- 

 ficiently into account the characteristics of the later or reproductive stage 

 in which the great disparity between these organisms and those of the 

 lower animals becomes apparent. 



Dr. liostatiuski, the Polish botanist, and pupil of De Bary, adopts the 

 name given the group by De Bary, but applies it in a more restricted 

 sense, classifying on a botanical basis. Both De Bary and Massee have 

 their earnest disciples. M. C. Cooke takes the ground that the Myxo- 

 mycetes are entitled to mention as ''■fungi which produce their fructifi- 

 cation enclosed within a peridium," although considering them as an 

 aberrant group which, on account of certain peculiarities of their early or 

 vegetative stage, should no longer be classed as having affinity with 

 Gasteromycetes. Without further discussion of the subject, it is suf- 

 ficient, for our present purpose, to state that mycologists now very gener- 

 ally agree in regarding this group as quite distinct from the Gasteromy- 

 cetes. 



The species are minute, rarely exceeding a millimeter in diameter, at first 

 pulpy, then dry. In the early or vegetative stage the " slime mould '" is plas- 

 moidal, consisting of a mass of protoplasm without cell wall, and prefers 

 damp surfaces, such as rotting leaves, moist logs, etc. The whole substance 

 is slippery or slimy and presents different hues, red, orange, violet, 

 brown, etc., according to species, but never green. It is in the reproduc- 

 tive or fruiting stage that their resemblance to microscopic pufi'-balls 

 appears, the sporangium in many species exhibiting a distinct peridium 

 or outer coat which encloses the spores together with the hair-like threads 

 called the capillitium. On the ripening of the spores this peridium rup- 

 tures, allowing their escape, the capillitium lending valuable aid in their 

 dissemination. 



