DE BARY, ON THE MYCETOZOA. 101 



a full and fair account of Dr. De Bai'y's argument in support 

 of his proposition. We have not time or space to dwell at 

 any length upon the weak parts of his case. One or two 

 points, however, may be mentioned. The fact of the formative 

 threads containing sarcode would not go far to prove their 

 animal nature. Sarcode and vegetable protoplasm are admitted 

 to be nearly allied ; and the author himself brings forward the 

 fact of our imperfect knowledge of the chemical natnre of 

 sarcode, by way of explanation of an unexpected chemical 

 reaction which he found in the sarcode-threads. (See p. 125.) 

 We would further observe that his views of spore-formation 

 in the Myxomycetes generally, are in direct opposition to those 

 of Berkeley, Corda, and Tulasne. 



The careful conclusions of so eminent an observer as Mr. 

 Berkeley cannot be set aside by a mere allegation of their 

 inaccuracy, as has been done by Dr. De Bary in the instance 

 of Enerthenema. In Badhamia, again, in which Dr. De Bary 

 throws doubts upon Mr. Berkeley's opinions, we can state 

 from our own observation, that the spores are certainly not 

 formed in the manner described by the author as occurring 

 in the other Myxogastric genera ; and Mr. Berkeley's obser- 

 vations, if correct (which we see no reason to doubt), would 

 almost suffice to upset Dr. De Bary's theory ; for if it be once 

 admitted that Badhamia is truly fungoid, no doubt could 

 exist as to the nature of the rest of the Myxomycetes. With 

 regard to the development of the arnaeboid bodies out of the 

 zoospores, we may call attention to a paper written a few 

 years since by Dr. Hartig (an abstract of which was given in 

 a former volume of this journal), containing the result of some 

 observations on the Phytozoa of the Antheridia of Marchantia, 

 tending to show that those Phytozoa become ultimately 

 transformed into Amsebse. The inference from the latter 

 observations would be that Dr. Hartig's amsebae were vege- 

 tables ; for if they were really formed from the substance of 

 the Phytozoa, they must necessarily partake of the nature of 

 the latter. On the other hand, Dr. De Bary, assuming the 

 animal nature of Amsebae generally, and finding Amsebre pro- 

 duced from the spores of the M}rxogasteres, draws the con- 

 clusion that the Myxogasteres are animals. Whatever may 

 be the result of the discussion which Dr. De Bary has origi- 

 nated, good service will be done to science if it should lead, 

 as we hope it may do, to a careful and accurate investigation, 

 both by botanists and zoologists, of what we think we may 

 still call the Myxogastric fungi. 



