THE LIFE-HISTORY OF A MYXOMYCETE. 
269 
THE LIFE-HISTOBY OF A MYXOMYCETE.* 
BY T. P. BLUNT, M.A., OXON. 
A tree had fallen down the steep bank on the further side 
of the river, and its broad exposed roots formed a warm and 
shady nook with the soil from which they had been torn; the 
cavity was partly filled with fallen leaves, and scattered over 
these were some white spots, as large as half-a-crown, of 
semi-fluid substance. The source of them was found to be a 
mass of similar substance, eight to ten inches across, partly 
hidden among the roots of the tree. This mass resembled 
clotted cream more than anything else, both in appearance 
and consistence, but it was of dazzling whiteness. The layer 
may have been from a quarter to half an inch thick, and it 
had overflowed in the manner described on to the leaves 
below. It had a strong fungus-like smell. A little of the 
substance was taken home, and examined under the micro¬ 
scope ; it was finely granular, and streaming movements 
were observed in it, which at the time were thought to be 
accidental, but have since been ascertained to be characteristic 
of it. 
The spot was visited at intervals, when the following 
changes were observed:—First, a delicate and beautiful 
purple tinge began to show itself on the surface both of the 
original layer and of the drops upon the leaves. This deepened 
in tone gradually, until it became a deep full black, and then 
it was noticed that the mass was no longer formless, but now 
consisted of a collection of bodies not so large as peas, 
closely resembling tiny puff-balls, and full of a black powder. 
I had been watching several stages in the life history of 
Brefeldia maxima, a large species of that division of the fungi 
called Myxomycetes. I say division “of the fungi” with 
some little hesitation, for their biological position is still 
held to be doubtful by some eminent mycologists, and the 
source of doubt lies in that part of their history to which 
we have now come. The powdery matter in the round 
receptacles consists of spores. Let us see how these 
germinate ; if some of them be placed in water on a micro¬ 
scopic slide and kept warm, they will be seen after a 
short time to swell, and then to burst, upon which a 
minute piece of white jelly creeps out from the integu¬ 
ment. Under a high power this appears to be of a 
roughly triangular form, and to bo furnished with a 
* Read before the Caradoc Field Club, September 28th, 1888. 
