By A. LISTER, Esq. 



T a meeting of the Field Club at Lyme Regis in July, 

 1891, I had the pleasure of giving a slight sketch 

 of the group of organisms which were formerly 

 classed under the name Myxomycetes or Myxogas- 

 tres, and afterwards Ly De Bary as Mycetozoa. 

 We had before us specimens of the objects 

 themselves, and magnified drawings as they appear 

 under the microscope ; indeed it is only with the 

 aid of the microscope that we are able to study their characters ; 

 and it is owing to their minute size and the difficulty in most cases 

 of following their life history that they have not hitherto been 

 investigated with the thoroughness which has been bestowed 011 

 other groups ; otherwise in form and colour and the exquisite 

 beauty of their structure they would present a fascinating object 

 of study to any members of the Club who have leisure to devote 

 to them and who possess a good microscope. 



They may be found at all seasons of the year except in frosty 

 weather, but are most abundant in summer and autumn ; some 

 species appear as a crowd of white or yellow globules about the 

 size of small pins' heads, either sessile or on slender stalks, on the 

 surface of rotting leaves or on decayed stumps ; some are in the 



