176 THE MYXOMYCETES OK PICTOU COUNTY. MOORE. 



Zopf in his treatment of these organisms (Die Pilzthiere 

 oder Schleimpilze, 1885), united with them the Monadineae, 

 a group mostly aquatic and embracing such forms as Vampy- 

 rclla, Bursulla, Pseuxlospora, Protomyxa, etc. He also includes 

 in the Monadineae, Plasmodiophora and Tetramyxa, forms 

 which as will be seen, are regarded by most subsequent students 

 as more nearly related to the true Myxomycetes. The second 

 sub-division in Zopf s system is the Eumycetozoa with the same 

 limitations as deBary's Mycetozoa. 



This scheme of classification is open to criticism for, while 

 it is perhaps not possible to draw a sharp line between the 

 M-onadina? and the true Myxomycetes, it is undoubtedly true 

 that the former appear to be m the direct line of ascent to the 

 rhizopods and heliozoa and hence to the whole series of animal 

 forms. Moreover, while the characteristic plasmodium forma- 

 tion is exhibited in a number of them, for example Protomyxa, 

 it is in the great majority unknown. 



Schroter (Engler & Pranils Die Nat. Pflanzenfamilien) 

 adopts the term Myxomycetes which he uses synonymously with 

 de Bary's Mycetozoa ; but he admits into the group such forms 

 as Plasmodiophora, which were excluded by the latter as 

 doubtful. 



He divides the Myxomycetes into three principal groups : 



A. Mature fructification consisting of a mass of free spores. 



1. Saprophytes the amoeboid bodies uniting in masses 



but not fusing. 



Acrasieae. 



2. Parasitic in the interior of living plant cells so 



far as known true plasmodia. 



Phytomyxinae. 



B. Spores produced in the interior of sporangia, or on the 



outside of discoid or columnar fructifications. 



Myxogasteres. 

 Massee in his monograph (1892) uses the Friesian term. 



