THALLOPHYTES : FUNGI 
291 
In certain conditions, however, these slimy bodies come 
to rest and organize most elaborate and often very beau- 
tiful sporangia, full of spores (Fig. 267). These varied 
and easily preserved sporangia are used to classify the 
FIG. 267. Three common slime moulds (Myxomycetes) on decaying wood : to the 
left above, groups of the sessile sporangia of Trichia ; to the right above, a group 
of the stalked sporangia of Stemonitis, with remnant of old plasmodium at base ; 
below, groups ,of sporangia of Hemiarcyria, with a plasmodium mass at upper 
left hand. GOLDBKRGER. 
forms. Slime-moulds, or "slime-fungi," therefore, seem 
to have animal-like bodies which produce plant-like spo- 
rangia. 
193. Bacteria. These are the " Fission-Fungi," or Schizo- 
mycetes, and are popularly known as " bacteria," " bacilli," 
" microbes," " germs," etc. They are so important and pe- 
culiar in their life habits that their study has developed a 
special branch of botany, known as " Bacteriology." In 
many ways they resemble the Cyanophycese, or " Fission- 
Algae," so closely that they are often associated with them 
in classification (see 162). 
