149 
Once, and once only, to my knowledge, has mitosis been 
observed in the streaming phase. This was in a preparation 
of Badhamia utricularis made by my son, J. J. Lister, F.R.S, a 
few days after the plasmodium had been revived from sclerotium. 
Here, every nucleus shows the spindle with the two halves of 
the equatorial plate just separated. It is an important and sug- 
gestive occurrence, and the question arises, how often does it 
take place, and what precedes or follows this exceptional pro- 
cess of division, if it be exceptional at this stage? After the 
capllitium has formed in the sporangium, all the nuclei divide by 
karyokinesis and each daughter nucleus becomes the centre of 
a spore. 
There is something that appeals to the imagination in the 
thought that in a sporangium like that of the Stemonitis which 
we see drawn before us, after this delicate framework had been 
formed, there remained the spore material, containing, say, 
2,000,000 nuclei. Then, simultaneously, each nucleus divided, 
so that there were 4,000,000 nuclei, and these, so nicely appor- 
tioned in number to the mass of the spore substance with which 
they had to deal, that in a few minutes it became divided up into 
4,000,000 spores, all equal in size. An hour or two later and the 
spores were ripe, each enclosed by a spore-wall so minutely 
sculptured that the pattern can only be made out with our 
highest glasses, and yet that pattern is constant in this species 
all over the world. 
I have dealt at perhaps tedious length with the microscopic 
aspect of the Mycetozoa, and of course without the microscope 
little knowledge can be gained of them ; but they are beautiful 
objects even in the field, and to those who search for fungi with 
an eye a little trained to detect their minute forms, they are seen 
to abound in wet seasons among dead leaves and on old stumps. 
Then they have the advantage of being easily preserved; with 
moderate care to protect them from damp and insects they will 
last indefinitely, and remain as fit for microscopic examination as 
When first gathered. We have lately received them in perfect 
Condition from Japan, Brazil, New Zealand, and from Ceylon 
Where our friend Mr. Petch who used to join our Fungus Forays 
iS making very valuable collections. 

