THE SLIME MOLDS OF OHIO 
5 
gathering. Sporangia that form late in the season under unfavorable 
conditions are more likely to have some part abnormal. 
In distribution, some forms are cosmopolitan, others are very much 
restricted in range or in habitat as Arcyria globosa Schwein, which is never 
found except growing on the burrs, flowers, or leaves of the Chestnut and 
hence is restricted to localities in which the required food is obtained. 
There has been considerable discussion as to whether the Slime Molds 
should be considered plants or animals, although they are more often dis¬ 
cussed in botanical than in zoological texts. If the dormant asexual spores 
with their cellulose walls and the sessile or stalked sporangia are considered, 
one is inclined to view the group as a group of plants but when one 
observes a spore escaping from its wall, moving about, and taking food, 
often of solid particles, one sees clearly that the organisms have characters 
which ally them with some of the one celled animals. Perhaps the best 
way to think of this relationship is not to attempt to separate sharply the 
animal from the vegetable kingdom among the low forms of life but rather 
to recognize that the two kingdoms merge together and that there is a 
border land uniting the two kingdoms, the organisms in this border land 
having some characteristics of plants and other characteristics of animals. 
In some forms the animal characters predominate while in others the plant 
characters predominate and we then call them respectively animals or 
plants. However, when as in the Slime Molds, the animal and plant 
characters are about of equal prominence it may be best to simply regard 
the group as a generalized one that has developed a somewhat complex 
life history, some stages of which are animal like, others plant like. 
Aside from the few species of the Plasmodiophoreae the Slime Molds 
are of no known economic importance. Since they secure their food from 
dead organic matter they must have some effect on the rapidity of decay. 
However, sometimes a plasmodium will creep upon a small living plant 
such as a fern or grass plant and by smothering kill it. 
For herbarium material bits of bark, wood, straw, or other objects 
upon which the sporangia are found should be carefully collected and 
carried to the laboratory where they may be glued to the bottom of small 
boxes. Material thus preserved will keep almost indeflnitely if not attacked 
by insects. Since the speciflc characters are often determined by the 
surface markings on the spores a microscope fitted with an oil immersion 
objective is essential for the accurate determination of some species. The 
determination of the genera can usually be made with the ordinary 
objectives. 
The author is indebted to Dr. Herbert Osborn and Prof. John H. 
Schaffner for many helpful suggestions. He also is under obligations to 
Prof. Bruce Fink, Oxford, O.; Prof. F. O. Grover, Oberlin, O.; Dr. O. E. 
Jennings, Pittsburg, Pa.; and Mr. C. G. Lloyd, Cincinnati, O.; for the loan of 
