A 



MONOGRAPH OF THE MYXOGASTRES. 



HISTORICAL. 



NEGLECTING the allusions made to members of the present 

 group by the pioneers of science, we find amongst the earliest 

 of unmistakable accounts, an essay on the organism popularly 

 known as "Flower of tan" Fuligo varians, Host., by Marchand, 

 a Frenchman. 1 The account, as would be expected, savours 

 of the mysterious; but it is evident from the name used, 

 'Eponge,' and from certain remarks made, that the author 

 considered the organism as being most nearly allied to what 

 are at present considered as members of the animal kingdom. 

 From this period until within the last thirty years, the Myxo- 

 gastres have almost universally been considered as fungi, 

 and with but few exceptions regarded as belonging to the 

 Gastromycetes. 



Characteristic figures by early authors occur in the works 

 of Micheli, 2 Gleditsch, 3 Schaeffer, 4 Bulliard, 5 Sowerby, 6 and 

 Schrader. 7 Fries was the first to clearly grasp the leading 

 features of the group to which he gave the name of Myxogastres, 

 and defined as- follows, " Primitus mucilaginosi, fluxiles." 8 In 



1 Sur une vegetation particuliere qui vient sur le tan, Hist, de Vacad. 

 roy. des sciences, Paris (1727). 



' 2 Nov. Plant. Gen. (1729). 3 Meth. Fung. (1753). 



4 Icon. Fung. (1762). 6 Hist. Champ, France (17911798). 



6 Engl. Fung. (17971809). 7 Schrad., Nov. Gen. (1797). 



8 Syst. Myc., iii. p. 67 (1829). 



