THE MYXOMYCETES OR MYCETOZOA ; ANIMALS OR PLANTS ? Ill 
tractile vesicle, which, as well as the spheroidal endoplast, was 
clearly discernible. As time progressed, alterations in con- 
tour were more strongly manifested, though without the germ 
moving away from the scene of its birth. At length an alto- 
gether elongate amoeboid, or vermiform aspect predominated, the 
nucleus or endoplast being shifted to one extremity and the 
contractile vesicle occupying the other. Then all at once, a 
flickering at the end containing the nucleus indicated the de- 
velopment of a flagellate appendage, which in a few seconds 
became distinctly visible. The vibratile motion of this organ soon 
caused the body to oscillate and presently lifted it from its hitherto 
prone position. It now remained adherent only by its posterior 
extremity, and, in a few more seconds, was launched into the 
surrounding water a free- swimming, elongate monad. The 
several successive phases just described will be found illustrated 
in PI. IV. by the figures numbered consecutively 43 to 48. 
During the next few days, similar monadiform germs were de- 
veloped abundantly from the spores in all parts of the field, 
and the next step in their ontogeny fully certified. It was 
found in fact that the free-swimming condition of the germs 
was but of brief duration, and subservient, apparently, only to 
their local distribution. Within a day or two, sooner or later, 
the monadiform beings once more betook themselves to a repent 
mode of existence, the flagella being for a while retained, com- 
municating to them a remarkable likeness to the repent flagel- 
liferous animalcules, for which F. E. Schulze has proposed the 
generic title of Mastig amoeba. The flagella being completely 
withdrawn, the organisms were now undistinguishable from 
ordinary Amoebce , and continued to creep about the field by 
broad, ovate expansions of their periphery, after the manner 
of those Bhizopods. 
An important point yet remained to be solved. De Bary and 
Cienkowski had declared that during both their monadiform 
and subsequent amoeboid phases, the Myxomycetes ingested and 
subsisted on solid food matter, figures as given by them in illus- 
tration of such nutritive faculties being reproduced in PL III., 
figs. 15, 16 and 45, and PL IV., figs. 12, 13 and 28. This evidence 
has been regarded by some writers as extremely doubtful, while 
by others it has been categorically denied. A simple experi- 
ment, however, soon demonstrated that these two authorities 
were again completely in the right. Examples, more especially 
of the repent amoeboid units, had been previously observed, 
whose bodies contained vacuoles more or less completely filled 
with ingested Bacteria , which, being produced in numbers 
prior to the hatching out of the JPhysarum germs, provided for 
the Mycetozoa an abundant and ready set feast. The common 
test of adding pulverized carmine to the water, of such value in 
