272 



KNOWLEDGE, 



[December 1, 1899. 



Of the distribution of the myxies in time, nothing is 

 known. The protoplasm is too delicate to leave its 

 memorial in the rocks, and its lime particles are so small 

 and so indistinguishable that it is no wonder that they 

 have never been traced. 



In space, the group, and many individual members of it, 

 are cosmopolitan. A large number of the species are, says 

 Mr. Lister, "found with identically the same characters 

 in Europe, India, the Cape of Good Hope, Australia, and 

 North and South America." What is implied in the 

 identity of a species in Australia and England ? Does it 

 mean that the species have passed the great intervening 

 oceans ? or does it mean that the species were defined 

 before the separation of the continents, and have continued 

 in both seats unchanged ever since ? 



Suggestions for Study. — In the hope that some of our 

 readers may be induced by what we have written to take 

 up the study of these little organisms, we will say a few 

 words as to how to begin the study of them. They may 

 be found often in great abundance, and more or less in all 

 times of the year, except in extreme cold or prolonged 

 drought, on moist dead wood and dead leaves (hazel, 

 hoUy, and beech leaves are very good) ; a wood yard near a 

 country house, rotting stumps of trees, the dead stalks of 

 last year's nettles, the wooden pillars and parts of gates 

 and rails, the straw heaps in a farmyard — all these are 

 likely places for the chase. Sometimes, too, as we have 

 said, they leave the dead substances, which are their chief 

 habitat, and climb over growing plants, as nettles, peri- 

 winkles, or moss. The eye wants some training to see 

 them quickly, and there is no doubt but that young eyes 

 are better than old ones. We know a case in which a 

 young lady detected a Trichia growing on the roadside from 

 her pony's back. 



If it be desired to keep specimens for use, they 

 should be preserved in dry boxes (the common lucifer 

 match boxes, lined with white paper, make very good 

 receptacles), into which they can be securely fixed by glue 

 or pins attached to the wood or leaves on which they rest. 

 For more minute observations recourse must, of course, be 

 had to the pocket lens and the microscope. There are few 

 more beautiful objects than some of the sporangia under a 

 low power, or than the capillitium and spores of some kinds 

 under a higher power ; the Trichia with lemon-coloured 

 hairs and spores are especially lovely to look upon. 

 The spores should be examined under water to prevent 

 shrinkage, and a little spirit is often useful in the 

 examination of the capillitium, as it helps to expel the air. 



The beginner will very likely at first sight mistake some 

 of the small fungi for myxies, but a very little experience 

 will enable him to distinguish the sporangium walls, the 

 hairs, and the spores of a myxie from anything which he 

 will meet with in the structure of a fungus. 



A visit to the botanical department of the British 

 Museum at South Kensington, and an examination of the 

 microscopic slides and drawings prepared by Mr. Arthur 

 Lister and his daughter. Miss Gulielma Lister, and pre- 

 sented by them to the British Museum, will be of great 

 utility to the student. 



To Mr. and Miss Lister all students of myxies are under 

 the deepest obUgations, and we are especially so by reason 

 of their constant help, and not least for their kindness in 

 reading this essay in manuscript. Mr. Lister has published 

 two books which are indispensable to the English student. 

 The "Guide to the British Mycetozoa exhibited in the 

 Department of Botany, British Museum," is a little 

 pamphlet, price threepence, written by Mr. Lister for the 

 Trustees of the British Museum, and published by them. 

 It can be obtained at the South Kensington Museum ; but 



booksellers are often stupid about getting it, as we believe 

 that they get no profit on it, and therefore if ordered 

 through a bookseller particular instructions should be 

 given to get it from the South Kensington Museum. This 

 little book is very admirable, and by itself will enable a 

 student to identify most or all of his specimens. Mr. 

 Lister's other book, " A Monograph of the Mycetozoa," 

 which is not confined to British species, was also published 

 by the Trustees of the British Museum, but is sold by 

 Longmans and other booksellers. The price of this book, 

 which is beautifully illustrated, is sixteen shillings. Mr. 

 Massee has also published a " Monograph of the Myxo- 

 gastres," 1892, illustrated with coloured plates. De 

 Bary's " Comparative Morphology and Fungi, Mycetozoa, 

 and Bacteria," of which an English translation has been 

 published by the Clarendon Press, should be consulted by 

 the student who desires further knowledge. The text- 

 books on general botany and on general cryptogamic 

 botany, such as Sach's Text Book, Kerner's " Natural 

 History of Plants," Bennett and Murray's "Cryptogamic 

 Botany," and Dr. Scott's " Structural Botany, Part II.," 

 may all usefully be consulted. 



For the student who desires to go further into the 

 literature of the subject, the following bibliography may 

 prove useful : — 



CiENKOwsKi. — Zur Entincklungs-geschichte der Myxorriy- 

 cetcn. {Prings. Jtihr., 1803, 825) ; TJas Plasmodium, id., 400. 



Lister. — " Notes of the Plasmodium of Badhamia 

 utricularis and Brefeldia maxima " {Annals of Botany^ Vol. 

 II., 1888, pp. 1-24); "Notes on Chondrioderma diforme 

 and other Mycetozoa" (ibid.. Vol. IV., 1890, pp. 281-298); 

 " Notes on the Ingestion of Food-material by the Swarm- 

 cells of Mycetozoa " {Journ. Linn. Soc, Vol. XXV,, Bot., 

 1890, pp. 435-441); "Notes on Mycetozoa" (Journ. of 

 Bot., Vol. XXIX., 1891, pp. 257-268); On the Division 

 of the Nuclei in the Mycetozoa" (Journ. Linn. Soc, Vol. 

 XXIX., Bot., 1893, pp. 529-542) ; " Notes on British 

 Mycetozoa " (Journ. Bot., Vol, XXXIII., 1895, pp. 823- 

 325); "A New Variety of Enteridium olivaceum" (ibid.. 

 Vol. XXXIV., 1896, pp. 210-212); "On Some Eare 

 Species of Mycetozoa" {ibid., Vol. XXXV., 1897, pp. 

 209-218) ; " Notes on Mycetozoa " {ibid., Vol. XXXVIL, 

 1899, pp. 145-152. 



Brefeld. — Dictyostelium mucoroides Abhand. der Senckb., 

 Gi's. VII., 1869 ; Untersu.chungen aus den Gesammtgebiete 

 der Mykologie, VI. Heft Myxomyceten (Leip., 1884). 



De Bary. — r>ie Mijcetozoen. Zeitsch., fur Wissench Zool. 

 (Vol. X., 1860, p. 88). 



Famintzin and Woronin. — tfber Ceratium Hydnoides 

 {Mem. Acad. Peter., Vol. XX., No. 3, 1873). 



Van Tieghem. — Sur quelques Myxomycetes {Bull. Soc, 

 Bot. Fr., Vol. XXVIL, 1880, p. 317). 



WisAND. — Zur Morphologie und Systematik der Gattwigen 

 Trichia und Arcyria {Pring. Jahrb. Bot., 1863, p. 1). 



TWO MONTHS ON THE GUADALQUIVER. 



By Harry F. Withebby, f.z.s., m.b.o.u. 



v.— FLOWERY PLAINS AND BUSTARDS. 

 LIST OF BIRDS. 



UCH has been written concerning the great 

 bustard, but I cannot conclude these articles 

 without a brief reference to this noble bird, once 

 so common on our own downs and plains. In 

 the south of Spain the great bustard is still 

 abundant, and is always likely to remain so. We made 

 two or three short expeditions in search of these birds 



M 



