137 





ON SPORANGIAL CHARACTERS OF MYCETOZOA 

 AND FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE THEM. 



By a. E. Hilton. 



{Read June 21th, 1916.) 



Plate 9, Figs. 1-2 in text. 



It is perhaps not sufficiently realised that in the small group 

 of the Mycetozoa we have not only a convenient microcosm of 

 elementary biological phenomena, but also a clue to the solu- 

 tion of some of the problems which those phenomena present. 

 Applying to the Mycetozoa words used by an eminent physi- 

 ologist in a similar connection, it may be said of these primitive 

 organisms that they show with singular clearness how '* quite 

 simple combinations of well-known forces lead to the perform- 

 ance of complicated and apparently purposeful results." * In 

 the light of this luminous principle, which is true of all living 

 things, we will consider some of the sporangial characters of 

 Mycetozoa. 



It is, of course, important that the principle so expressed 

 should not be misunderstood. It is not stated that complicated 

 and apparently purposeful results are brought about by simple 

 forces ; but by well-known forces in simple combination. The 

 distinction is vital. It is the combinations which are simple, 

 not the forces. The forces, though well known, are mostly 

 inscrutable. 



In appearance, the sporangia of Mycetozoa present a strange 



♦ Principles of General Physiology. By Professor Bayliss of Uni- 

 versity College, London, 1916. The passage is given as quoted in 

 the Times Literary Supplement. 



