4 A. E. HILTON ON THE FORMATION OP 



melted into, and been absorbed by, their respective pillars, as 

 tlie sporangia lengthened upwards to their full height. At 

 this stage the general appearance of each cluster suggested a 

 diminutive canvas tent with a flattened top, spreading con- 

 siderably towards the bottom, and held in position by black 

 cords (PL 1, fig. 4). Very striking indeed were these successive 

 developments. 



Again we pause to ask, as before, what had really happened. 

 What were the inward facts of which these metamorphoses were 

 the outward signs ? The essential process, the clarification of 

 the plasm, was evidently proceeding apace. That was shown 

 by the excretion of the hypothallus and the secretion of the 

 stalks ; and was further emphasised by the alteration in the 

 colour of the plasm. For the creamy or light-brown tint 

 now prevailing indicated that finer secretions from purer plasm 

 were also being deposited to form the branching capillitia and 

 the delicate superficial nets enveloping the sporangia. The 

 elimination of these materials, concurrently with loss of fluid 

 by evaporation, would inevitably alter the physical strains of 

 the colloidal plasm ; and the formation of the columns, and 

 the climbing of the plasm up the stalks, in spite of gravitation, 

 was plainly a shrinkage movement caused by a progressive 

 strengthening of the surface tensions. Thus far, however, the 

 processes were all preliminary ; the most important change was 

 impending. 



At 10 p.m., ten hours after the emergence of the plasmodium 

 from the tree-stumps, the sporangia had practically attained th«ir 

 ultimate shape, and were a shade darker, though still of a light 

 brown or buff colour. By 8 a.m. next day they were nearly 

 black ; and by 8 p.m. on that date they were a dark purplish 

 brown. The colour became a little lighter, or rather browner, 

 as the sporangia subsequently dried off ; but the beauty had 

 gone. 



What had occurred in this closing stage ? The living plasm 

 had lent its charm to all the previous phases. Why had it now 



