110 NATURE NOTES. 
plexity. It is only in their reproductive stage that they 
present any likeness to the Fungi; in the plasmodial stage 
they most naturally suggest animals allied to the Rhizopods. 
This kinship with the lower forms of animal-life is empha- 
sised by the fact that food, eg., bacteria, is ingested by the 
zoospores, and it is also strongly supported by a comparison 
with the life-history of Protomyxa awrantiaca described by 
Haeckel. The Mycetozoa are of great scientific importance. 
The plasmodia afford large masses—the largest available 
—of indifferentiated protoplasm free of all hampering 
structure, giving great facilities for study; and many 
important investigations have been made on the properties 
of protoplasm by means of them. 
Of late years the Mycetozoa have received much careful 
study, but many points in their life-history still await 
elucidation; and to anyone in possession of a microscope 
they offer a rich field for useful work. The spore-cysts, or 
sporangia, may be found at all seasons. Frost or very dry 
weather, however, is against them. They inhabit damp 
and shady places, especially old woods, and occur on tree- 
stumps, old palings, dead wood, dead leaves, etc. Many of 
them are of great beauty, both of form and colour. Although 
a number of them are quite common, even abundant, they 
require to be looked for; and, I fancy, are not noticed by 
any but naturalists. I have found the woods at Roslin the 
most productive place round Edinburgh. I have taken 
there quite a dozen species. I have not managed yet to 
determine them all, but the following are among them :— 
Comatricha obtusata, Stemonitis fusca, and another species ; 
Arcyria incarnata, and two other species; a species of 
Trichia; and Tubulina fragiformia. 
My first attempt at observing the growth of the Mycetozoa 
consisted in bringing home likely-looking pieces of dead 
wood, which I placed in the garden under natural conditions 
as to shade and moisture. In this way I watched the 
formation of the sporangia of Comatricha obtusata and 
Arcyria incarnata. On 1st October 1898 I found at Roslin 
a piece of wood bearing over one hundred sporangia of C. 
obtusata. On examination at home, it was found that nearly 
every one had scattered the spores. Sporangia, mounted in 
