14 BOTANY. 



the process taking but a short time, so that the numbers of these cells 

 under favorable conditions may become very large. After a time the lash 

 is withdrawn, and the cell assumes much the form of a small amoeba (/ u). 



The succeeding stages are difficult to follow. After repeat- 

 edly dividing, a large number of these amoeba-like cells run to- 

 gether, coalescing when they come in contact, and forming a 

 mass of protoplasm that grows, and finally assumes the form 

 from which it started. 



Of the common forms of slime moulds the species of Trichia (Figs. Z), 

 I) and Physarum are, perhaps, the best for studying the germination, as 

 the spores are larger than in most other forms, and germinate more 

 readily. The experiment is apt to be most successful if the spores are 

 sown in a drop of water in which has been infused some vegetable matter, 

 such as a bit of rotten wood, boiling thoroughly to kill all germs. A drop 

 of this fluid should be placed on a perfectly clean cover glass, which it is 

 well to pass once or twice through a flame, and the spores transferred to 

 this drop with a needle previously heated. By these precautions foreign 

 germs will be avoided, which otherwise may interfere seriously with the 

 growth of the young slime moulds. After sowing the spores in the drop 

 of culture fluid, the whole should be inverted over a so-called "moist 

 chamber." This is simply a square of thick blotting paper, in which an 

 opening is cut small enough to be entirely covered by the cover glass, but 

 large enough so that the drop in the centre of the cover glass will not 

 touch the sides of the chamber, but will hang suspended clear in it. The 

 blotting paper should be soaked thoroughly in pure water (distilled water 

 is preferable), and then placed on a slide, covering carefully with the cover 

 glass with the suspended drop of fluid containing the spores. The whole 

 should be kept under cover so as to prevent loss of water by evaporation. 

 By this method the spores may be examined conveniently without disturb- 

 ing them, and the whole may be kept as long as desired, so long as the 

 blotting paper is kept wet, so as to prevent the suspended drop from 

 drying up. 



CLASS II. Scltizophytes. 



The Schizophytes are very small plants, though not infre- 

 quently occurring in masses of considerable size. They are 

 among the commonest of all plants, and are found everywhere. 

 They multiply almost entirely by simple transverse division, or 



