^‘animal nature” of myxomycetes. 43 
made his own drawings of such simple structures, and not accepted 
them at second hand. Then, he would have learnt how deceptive 
mere /brm can be, and that the “ fine horny net work, usually con- 
tained with the sjDores within the sporangium,” and also the 
“ spicule-like bodies composed of carbonate of lime developed 
within the substance of the walls of the sporangium ” are not so 
very much like the keratose fibre, and spicules of sponges after all. 
The late Dr. Bowerbank knew something of fungi, and Mr. H. J. 
Carter has examined Myxomycetes closely, and for this reason, 
although both are acknowledged as supreme authorities on sponges, 
they never recognised the close affinities between sponges and 
Myxogasters. 
If we would seek the reason why this effort has been made to 
squeeze the Myxomycetes into the animal kingdom by stealth, it 
may be found illustrated by the following definition — “ The broad 
distinction insisted upon as subsisting between unicellular plants 
and animals is the capacity of animal organizations to incept and 
digest food-matter in its solid form, and the corresponding absence 
of such an inceptive faculty in all vegetable organisms.” Taking 
this as an absolute distinction between animals and plants, the 
Myxomycetes are declared to be “ undoubted animals,” because they 
do not “ undoubtedly ” incept and digest food-matter in its solid 
state. 
Logic is again defied when animals of a very simple organiza- 
tion are admitted to a place in the scheme, although they do not 
“ incept and digest food-matter in its solid form,” but, on the con- 
trary, “ derive their nutriment by absorption from the fluid which 
they inhabit.” It is not, however, our intention to fight with these 
shadows of reasons for regarding the Myxogasters as animals. Our 
author has declared their “ undoubted animal nature.” To this we 
join issue, and declare our belief in their truly vegetable nature. 
The onus rests with him to substantiate his position, and produce 
his evidence, but it must be something more than the mere citation 
of De Bary and Cienkowski. 
GEASTER COLIFORMIS IN NORFOLK. 
I was much pleased to receive from my friend. Dr. J. D. 
Alexander, of Grimston, on Saturday last, September 25th, 1880, 
four fresh specimens of this rare Geaster, which, as far as I can 
make out, has not been found in Britain since the first decade of 
the present century. The specimens grew on a hedge bank in the 
village of Hillington, Norfolk. The largest of them measures six 
inches across the widest part of the outer coat or peridium, which 
is divided into ten unequal rays ; the inner peridium is no less than 
two inches in diameter, and has the beautiful silver-grey lustre 
mentioned by the older botanists, since whose time the fungus has 
hardly, if at all, been gathered in this country. In the specimen 
