


1901] BRIEFER ARTICLES 201 
placed within contact of another plasmodium of Fuligo at 1:30 P.M, 
November 6, but at five o’clock not a single pseudopodial branch of 
the plasmodium had moved up upon them. On the contrary, when at 
four o’clock several pieces of the pileus and stem of Coprinus atra- 
mentarius were laid upon the yellow protoplasmic mass, inside of three 
quarters of an hour the trophotropic action of the food substance 
began to manifest itself by the plasmodial invasion of the newly pro- 
vided nitrogenous food substance. The incorporation of the nutritive 
matter had well proceeded up over the edges of the young pilei of 
Coprinus atramentarius by five o’clock, November 6. An examination 
on the morning of November 7 showed the inky Coprinus almost 
entirely digested, and a black mass of spores in a gelatinous matrix 
indicated a total collapse of the fungus. Aypholoma perplexum was also 
covered by a network of the mycelium, which had spread not only over 
the stipe, but also over the gills and upper surface of the pileus. By 
evening, this agaric had collapsed, and by the next morning, Novem- 
ber 8, nothing remained but a soft gelatinous mass of substance. 
Raw beefsteak was applied to the surface of the plasmodium at 
II: 30 A.M., November 7, and by noon a single strand of protoplasm 
had advabcel upon the meat. At 1:30 P.M. one third of the surface 
of the meat, and by 5: 00 p.m. the entire surface, was covered. Diges- 
tion must have been rapid during the night, because upon returning 
to the laboratory in the morning of November 8 not a trace of the 
beefsteak was to be found. 
Pieces of the gleba and stipe of Phallus impudicus were also applied 
at the same time. During the afternoon of Wednesday, November 7, 
the pieces of gleba were well covered by the moving plasmodium, the 
stipe portions being left untouched. By the next morning the glebal 
pieces had almost entirely disappeared, and cuts from the stipe still 
remained untouched. 
Beefsteak was again supplied to the plasmodium at 10:00 A.M., 
Thursday, November 8, and by 10: 45 a.M. a few arms of the plasmo- 
dium had extended themselves over the free edges of the meat. 
The purpose was next to extend the series of observations by feed- 
ing to the active plasmodium a variety of nitrogenous and fatty 
materials. Cheese, boiled white of egg, boiled yolk of egg, and butter 
were chosen. Pieces of these substances were applied to the surface 
of the reticulum on Thursday morning, November 8. The plasmodium 
seemed at first to refuse them, but by Friday morning the fragments 
