PnOTOPHTTA. 



107 



some species it is no larger than a pin-head, while in others 

 it is as large as a man's hand. This mass of protoplasm is 

 often yellow or orange-red in color, and is never green. It 

 possesses to an extraordinary degree the power of moving 

 itself from place to place. Slime-moulds obtain their food 

 by absorbing solutions of decaying matter, and are even 



Fig. 45.— Early stages of a Slime-mould (Fuligo varians). o. a spore; 6. c, the 

 same, bursting the cell-wall; d to I, various stages; m, young Slime-mould. 



said to engulf solid substances in the same manner as the 

 Amceba among animals. 



220. When they have become full-grown they lose a 

 good deal of their moisture, and the protoplasm then sepa- 

 rates itself into a great number of minute rounded balls, 

 each of which forms a cell-wall around itself. These little 

 balls (spores) are thus nothing but bits of protoplasm secure- 

 ly covered. They may now be blown hither and thither 

 without harm, and when at last they fall into a moist warm 

 place they imbibe water, burst their coats, and are free 



