270 
THE LIFE-HISTOKY OF A MYXOMYCETE. 
flagellum or “ tail,” which it uses for purposes of locomotion. 
Its movements consist partly of jumps through the water, 
effected by the aid of the flagellum, and partly of a creeping 
motion over the surface of the glass; under the latter cir¬ 
cumstances, it exactly resembles an amoeba in appearance, 
and, like the amoeba, it is able to thrust out portions of its 
substance into the finger-like projections, called pseudopodia. 
It shews some curious antipathies and predilections ; it will 
creep away from strong light, and towards moderate warmth. 
After a time, under favourable circumstances, each body 
begins to divide itself into two, and the numbers of amoeba¬ 
like organisms thus increase rapidly by the process of fission. 
The next stage consists in the coalescence of the isolated 
bodies into larger masses, and here the microscopist will be 
reminded of a phenomenon frequently observed in the case 
of another of the protozoa, not far removed from amoeba, 
viz., Actinoplirys; two, three, or more of these will often 
approach each other, and gradually coalesce into what appears 
to be a single large organism. This.phenomenon is not of the 
nature of conjugation, but it is a mere amalgamation, usually 
resolved after a time. 
The union of considerable numbers of the amcebiform 
bodies into larger masses, and the subsequent coalescence of 
the latter, result in the snowy cream-like substance from 
which we started, as found, in the case of Brefeldia, upon the 
roots of trees, and it may be well now to trace a little more 
minutely the subsequent stages of its growth. 
It is endued, like the units of which it was originally 
composed, with motile power. It is capable of creeping over 
surfaces in order to avoid unfavourable conditions or to seek 
advantageous ones, and this movement can sometimes be 
followed by the unaided eye. 
The mass also increases rapidly in size by the absorption 
of nutriment from the substratum, and is capable, as we have 
seen, of overflowing its borders and dropping on to neighbour¬ 
ing surfaces. 
It seems probable that the plasmodia—as the masses are 
called which are formed by the coalescence of the zoospores— 
have another property which brings them very near to the 
protozoa, that, namely, of supporting themselves in some 
measure by the absorption of solid food; they certainly 
approach, embrace with their pseudopodia, and ultimately 
engulf small particles of solid nutrient material, which 
they eject at a later stage. 
As has been already stated the surface of the plasmodium 
in Brefeldia gradually acquires a purple and ultimately a black 
