52 



the theory which de Bary proposed and abandoned was that the myxogasters were 

 more related to low forms of animal life than to the vegetable, and should be 

 classed near the rhizopods. 



The rayxogasters are all rather small fungi, if we except one or two genera, 

 and, when fully matured, are like little puff balls, but, unlike them, their early 

 stage is gelatinous and pulpy. Generalizations are necessarily unsatisfactory, 

 however useful they may be for conveying superficial information, and hence, 

 subject to the reservation that there may be some exceptions, we would venture 

 on some casual observations on the structure of these fungi. 



Let U3 assume that they are mostly about of the size of a rapeseed or 

 mustai-dseed, that they are more or less rounded or egg-shaped, and are often 

 collected in clusters. We are well enough acquainted with a hen's egg. If we 

 place one upon its small end we have the form of many Myxogasters very many 

 times enlarged. In the egg we have a shell or peridium containing lime, this has 

 a tough translucent membranous lining or inner coat, and within this fluid, 

 ultimately becoming solid, living matter, which bursts the shell irregularly and 

 becomes free. We know that in its earliest stages this egg has a coating without 

 lime, and is impressible. So with the Myxogaster. At first it is a minute globule 

 of whitish jelly — or at least when first visible to the naked eye — of an homo- 

 genous gelatinous nature throughout, ami instantly yields to the touch. Gradu- 

 ally the outer shell or peridium becomes <Ustinct in its character from its contents, 

 it secretes lime in many cases, and thus maintains its similarity to a hen's egg. At 

 the same time it acquire-i colour— sometimes yellowish, sometimes reddish, some- 

 times brownish or grayish, and occasionally of a chalky whiteness. Meanwhile, 

 the contents are undergoing change, becoming more and more opaque and solid, 

 until at length they liecome differentiated into a pulverulent m:iss, the shell be- 

 comes ruptured, and the spores escape. It will be seen that the resemblance to 

 an egg holds good only for a little time, and is not real but fanciful. This will be 

 more evident as we proceed to further particulars. For instance, although some- 

 times seated direct upon the matrix, it is not unusual for the peridium to be 

 elevated upon a stem, and when there is no stem, the point of attachment has a 

 decided swelling in the interior of the peridium, at times svirelling into a boss or 

 nob, or at others passing nearly to the top of the peridium like a pillar or 

 column, and this is called the columella. When a stem is present, this column is 

 really a prolongation of the stem in the interior of the peridium. This is not the 

 whole that has to be learnt of the columella, for, whether short or long, whether 

 reduced to a small boss or elongated into a column, it gives oflf, in most cases, 

 threads of a very variable character, from all parts of its surface, and these threads 

 pass from the columella in the centre outwards through the mass of spores, until 

 they reach or touch or grow to the inside wall of the peridium. These threads 

 which pass from the columella are termed the capillitium, and they are the 

 branches on which the fruit or spores are generated, but from which they are 

 very soon detached. 



