f 
MIDLAND NATURALIST. 39 
Continued drought is extremely destructive to Myxomycetes 
as we had ample opportunity to observe last year. During 1909 
not more than a dozen species were found in the same region and 
they were of the commonest kinds. ‘These seem to develop under 
almost ordinary conditions. Among the few common slime-moulds 
that appeared last season are Trichia varia, Arcyria denudata, 
Hemitrichia stipitata, and rubiformis, Fuligo ovata, and Lycogala 
epidendrum. All of these developed in places that seem to pro- 
duce such plants independently of periodic showers, as the localities 
are always moist, e. g. wet shady woods. Even Fuligo ovata was 
very scarce last season. 
Whether the drought of 1908 will cause a larger crop of Myxo- 
mycetes to appear this coming season if rains are favorable remains 
to be seen. Many species that failed to develop may appear 
this year. In fact it was noticed that several forms are appearing 
unusually abundant and very early. Lycogala epidendrum one of 
the few that were found in 1908 was seen this year in a dry loca- 
tion on the University grounds in the interval of several warm days 
between two snow storms and this in spite of the fact that the 
season is very much backward. Two crops of the plants appeared 
about April 13 and April 20. The last crop coming out between 
two falls of snow. Snow enough to cover the ground appeared 
twice in fact since the last date. The plants were perfectly normal 
and healthy in spite of the cold. Some were fixed in chrom-acetic 
acid for later study while still in the plasmodial stage. 
In 1905 Myxomycetes were found very abundantly in woods 
and fields free from trees, and even in marshes. A plasmodium of 
Fuligo ovata over a foot and a half square was found crawling over 
oak leaves which had been dumped into a marsh. The same, plant 
was found coming up from the middle of a cinder-path in several 
places. Its presence here was quite puzzling until it was investi- 
gated. It was found to have come up from an oak stump under 
several inches of cinders through which the Fuligo crept to develop. 
Only a hundred yards away the same species was found on a dead 
poplar seven feet from the ground. Physarum cinereum usually 
appearing annually on the grass in the University lawn has for 
years taken at each reappearance the forms and configurations of 
the ‘‘ fairy circles” of certain Basidiomycetes. 
The words ‘‘common,’’ ‘‘abundant;’’ etc., refer to the fact that 
other species were observed abundantly in nearby localities but 
duplicates were only collected from places at least two miles apart. 
