12 BOTANY. 



the slime moulds (Fig. 5), Euglena (Fig. 9), Volvox (Fig. 10), 

 and others. 



Other protophytes, while evidently enough of vegetable nat- 

 ure, are nevertheless very different in some respects from the 

 higher plants. 



The protophytes may be divided into three classes : I. The 

 slime moulds (Myxomycetes) ; II. The Schizophytes ; III. 

 The green monads ( Volvocinece) . 



CLASS I. THE SLIME MOULDS. 



These curious organisms are among the most puzzling forms 

 with which the botanist has to do, as they are so much like some 

 of the lowest forms of animal life as to be scarcely distinguish- 

 able from them, and indeed they are sometimes regarded as ani- 

 mals rather than plants. At certain stages they consist of 

 naked masses of protoplasm of very considerable size, not infre- 

 quently several centimetres in diameter. These are met with on 

 decaying logs in damp woods, on rotting leaves, and other decay- 

 ing vegetable matter. The commonest ones are bright yellow 

 or whitish, and form soft, slimy coverings over the substratum 

 (Fig. 5, A), penetrating into its crevices and showing sensi- 

 tiveness toward light. The plasmodium, as the mass of pro- 

 toplasm is called, may be made to creep upon a slide in the 

 following way : A tumbler is rilled with water and placed in a 

 saucer filled with sand. A strip of blotting paper about the 

 width of the slide is now placed with one end in the water, 

 the other hanging over the edge of the glass and against one 

 side of a slide, which is thus held upright, but must not be 

 allowed to touch the side of the tumbler. The strip of . blot- 

 ting paper sucks up the water, which flows slowly down the 

 surface of the slide in contact with the blotting paper. If now 

 a bit of the substance upon which the plasmodium is growing 

 is placed against the bottom of the slide on the side where the 

 stream of water is, the protoplasm will creep up against the 



