O HE VIEWS. 



a few hours before I have seen specimens, again, of another species growing 



on a leaden cistern at Kew, from which it could derive no nutriment. Another was 

 found by Sowerby on cinders on the outside of the dome of St. Paul's." 



Until lately, no question lias been raised as to the organisms belong- 

 ing to this group having been rightly placed amongst the Fungi ; but in 

 the " Botanische Zeitung" for 1858 (t. xvi, p. 357), Dr. De Bary ex- 

 pressed an opinion that they are animals, and he has since maintained 

 this view in an elaborate essay in Siebold and Kolliker's "Zeitschrift 

 fur wissens-chaftliche Zoologie." His argument is founded partly upon 

 the peculiarities of growth above referred to, but more particularly upon 

 the nature of their component substance, which he considers almost iden- 

 tical with sarcode. 



He also lays some stress upon the fact, that the Myxogastres, at an 

 early stage of their growth, exhibit in the substance of their bodies 

 solid matter taken in from without, such as cells of algse, spores of 

 fungi, &c. He says that if these ingesta can be considered to be food, 

 the fact would establish the animal nature of the Myxogastres, because, 

 if an organism eats, it must be an animal. He admits, however, that 

 there is no proof that the ingesta are food, and that the solid bodies in 

 question may have gained admittance accidentally. 



Mr. Berkeley, in combating De Bary's views, observes: — u A suffi- 

 cient answer is the fact, that some of the species contain spiral vessels, 

 and have their spores surrounded by a distinct sac." 



The latter objection is strong, and is one which De Bary has not 

 met, having contented himself with simply calling in question some ob- 

 servations on the genera Badhamia and Enerthenema, in which Mr. 

 Berkeley and other observers allege (as we believe correctly) that such 

 a sac exists. With regard, however, to the spiral vessels, we think Mr. 

 Berkeley states their existence too confidently. It is true that all the 

 species of TrichiaB contain threads, sometimes short and fusiform, some- 

 times of great length, and forming almost a net- work, all of which 

 threads bear spiral marhmgs ; but the nature of these markings is still 

 a subject of controversy, and the determination of the question is depen- 

 dent upon microscopical investigation, and, like the question as to the 

 markings on the valves of the Diatomacese, will probably long continue 

 undecided. De Bary, it may be observed, adopts unhesitatingly the 

 opinion expressed in the " Microscopical Journal" (vol. iii., p. 15), ac- 

 cording to which the spiral markings of the TrichiaB are not produced by 

 the existence of a spiral fibre, but are an optical effect arising from an 

 arcuate elevation of the cell- wall, following a spiral direction from one 

 end of the threads to the other. 



In commenting upon De Bary's observations, M. Tnlasne has called 

 attention to a fact in support of his views, viz., the existence in the exter- 

 nal covering of the Myxogastres of a white calcareous salt, which effer- 

 vesces in sulphuric acid. '* I am surprised," says M. Tulasne,* " that M. 



* See " Ann. des Sciences Nat.," 4 Ser., vol. xi., p. 150. 



