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and other Mycetozoa . 
or more of these columns formed the base of a capillitium- 
thread, in another again they were mixed with threads of the 
usual kind. 
Similar aggregations of chalk-granules in the basal portion 
of the capillitium are not unusual in Didymium squctmn- 
losum. 
Besides the method of cultivation already described, the 
spores of many Mycetozoa may be caused to germinate 
under a cover slip on a glass slide, or in a hanging drop, 
a plan given by Professor Marshall Ward (loc. cit.). A pad 
of a few thicknesses of blotting-paper with a hole about 
f inch in diameter is wetted and laid on a glass-slide, a drop 
of water containing spores is placed on a square cover-slip 
and inverted over the central opening ; the spores are thus 
kept in a moist chamber allowing access of oxygen through 
the porous substance of the blotting paper, while the wet pad 
prevents the drop from drying. Experiments with this 
method will be referred to hereafter. 
The time that spores take to germinate varies greatly 
not only in different species but in different gatherings of 
the same species. Those of a specimen of Stemonitis fusca 
gathered in the autumn of 1888 produced swarm-cells in 
abundance within an hour and a half of their being placed 
in water under a thin cover-slip ; after six months’ preserva- 
tion, they germinated almost equally quickly, and after 
thirteen months, although they took a longer time, vast 
numbers of swarm-cells were hatched within twelve hours. 
Another gathering of the same species in the spring of 1889, 
examined at the time of collecting, began to germinate in 
four hours, and in twelve hours nearly all the spores had hatched. 
In other gatherings germination did not begin until twelve 
hours, and after several days many spores were still unburst. 
In others again, though well ripened and in fine condition, 
I have not succeeded in obtaining swarm-cells at all. 
The large spores of Amanrochaete germinate in from two 
to four hours, and this is but little delayed after they have 
remained for a year and a half in a cabinet. 
