Monthly Microscopical"! 
Journal, Sept. 1, 1869. J 
Observations on Mucor Mucedo. 
145 
In forty-eight hours the shde from the cuphoard had become some- 
what dry ; a httle fresh juice was added at the edge of the cover, 
and by gentle manipulation made to run under it. On the slide 
from the tin vessel the little bodies had grown every way : many 
had budded at the extremities and remained united; some had 
formed a short filament of two joints ; others three, and contained 
either oil-globules or nuclei ; very many had become decidedly 
naviculoid, others had kept their original contour and united in 
clains or little groups (k) ; the movements of the naviculoid, blunt 
and oval shaped bodies continued, but much less active ; the others 
were motionless. On the fourth day (ninety-six hours), the bright 
spots in the centres of many had a vacuolated appearance, which, 
under 750 diameters, is figured at s. Were they degenerating? 
They are still under notice. Those in the slide in the dark cup- 
board had evidently faded, and at this period were smaller than 
when set aside. In appearance they resembled greatly the small 
faded yeast-cells in the slide from beer. I think it would have 
been almost impossible to distinguish them in this condition, 
though in 'the early stage there seemed considerable difference in 
very many, if not most of them. Hence to return to the examina- 
tion of the little quantity of fluid in the glass vessel from the 
gooseberry : the second day it was watery, though still red ; care- 
fully examined, it furnished a few large rather dense spores or cells, 
with sometimes two or three brownish oval nuclei or secondary 
cells in the interior, mingled with many very minute dark granules 
and somewhat larger bright globules with a dark contour, numerous 
on the outside of the cell-wall, and not at all of the appearance of 
oil-globules produced by exudation (p), as seen at 750 diameters. 
Besides, a few of the mucor spores were noticed, which much 
resembled yeast-cells, or rather the cells from the unripe heads (g), 
but were of a dark colour (q). In ninety-six hours many little 
bodies, differing from the previous ones, though probably derived 
from them, were found in this fluid ; they were generally sharp at 
each end, of a bright pale yellowish colour, and in mostly small 
and large groups, exhibiting no movement (r). They were set 
aside with fresh juice, and showed no change on the eighteenth 
day. 
Secondly, experiments were made in reference to the germinal 
matter or protoplasm : — Two unripe heads, one rather less so than 
the other, were placed on a slide with fresh gooseberry juice and 
covered : the heads burst almost directly, and parts of the contents of 
the stem flowed out at the broken end ; — the eighteenth day, having 
been kept in a moist atmosphere in the light, there was no material 
change in the viscid plasma of either the head or the stem, save in 
one of the former, dense oil-globules had exuded from the edges. 
At the same time, two rather riper heads were treated in the same 
