350 Massee: Mycological Research in the United States. 



differed in habit from the remainder in the formation of erect 

 masses of fairly constant form for each species, but presenting" 

 great variety of form in the different genera. Some of these 

 structures are vaguely branched or coralloid, others are g-lobose 

 heads, or clusters of heads like a bunch of grapes, borne on 

 a slender stem. These bodies originate as follows : a colony of 

 rod-like Bacteria is formed by repeated fission of one or more 

 primary individuals; the individuals forming the colony remain 

 distinct from each other, possess a power of slow locomotion, 

 and secrete a gelatinous substance which encloses the entire 

 mass. When the vegetative method of reproduction by fission 

 is completed the rods concentrate at various points of the 

 colony '; this concentration produces projections rising above the 

 common level of the mass, and as the bacteria continue to 

 swarm into the projecting portions, these rise higher and 

 higher, assuming the configuration peculiar to the species. 

 The elongating body is always surrounded by the glairy mass, 

 which finally hardens and forms the supporting stem, the whole 

 of the bacteria having passed into the uppermost portion, round 

 which the mucilage hardens, and forms a compact mass of 

 encysted bacteria. These cysts finally break away from the 

 common support and are dispersed by wind and other agents, 

 remaining in an encysted condition until conditions are favour- 

 able for the formation of a new colony, when the process is 

 repeated. 



Most of the species are orange in colour, and are not 

 uncommon on bark, lichens, etc. The name given to this 

 peculiar group of organisms by Thaxter is Myxobacteriaceae. 

 Some of the species have been described by mycologists as 

 moulds, which they resemble in size and general appearance. 

 The peculiar swarming habit of the Myxobacteriaceae agrees 

 with what takes place in the Myxogastres, where the living 

 portion of the plasmodium swarms up a skeleton formed by 

 a mucilaginous substance mixed with the plasmodium. 



Lack of power of observation and other shortcomings may 

 prevent the bulk of us from producing work of equal merit to 

 that done by Dr. Thaxter ; nevertheless, whatever the calibre of 

 mind may be, I think that the above brief and imperfect 

 sketch goes far to prove that specialisation will afford more 

 personal pleasure, and prove of greater value to the world at 

 large than can be attained by attempting the impossible, in • 

 other words, endeavouring to deal with the whole of the fungi, 

 of which we have 5,000 species in Great Britain. 



Naturalist, 



