MICROSCOPIC LIFE OF THE "LEAF-CARPET." 235
the more appropriate that the matter should be brought before
the Essex Field Club.
It is now proposed to consider the groups of plants and
animals seriatim.
BACTERIA.
Many different forms have been seen, but no special attention
has been given to them. They do not seem to be very abundant
when the material is first examined, but would no doubt be
obtained in great numbers and variety if culture methods were
used. It is possible that, as has been found to be the case in the
soil (7 and 9, etc.) they are kept down in numbers by some of
the Rhizopods and Flagellates feeding upon them.
FUNGI.
A fair number of small hyphae and broken pieces of larger
hyphal threads have, of course, been seen in all samples, but they
have not been specially studied. Very many spores, probably of
many different kinds of fungi, have been seen, also many conidia
especially of species of Fusarium. Occasionally some peculiar
conidia were noted, such as a trident-like form (? Titaea sp., fig.
11), a spiral form (? Helicomyces sp., fig. 12) and a peculiar finger-
like form, probably Tetracladium marchalianum (fig. 10). I have
seen no Mycetozoa, but they no doubt occur occasionally.1 As
already mentioned Mycorrhiza occur frequently on the rootlets
of various trees penetrating into the leaf-carpet, but no special
attention has been paid to them. (For details of the microscopic
fungi of soils in general consult 5 and 12, Chap. X.)
ALGAE.
It is extremely doubtful whether any coloured algae normally
live in the leaf-carpet. A few Diatoms have been seen belonging
to the genera Navicula, Pinnularia, Eunotia and Nitzschia, but
in nearly all cases they were only empty or even broken frustules.
In only one instance have living and moving Diatoms been seen.
This happened to be in one of the very few washings from the
leaf-carpet of a pine wood. A few green cells have been seen,
mostly easily recognisable as Pleurococcus, Trebouxia, Sticho-
coccus, or Chlorococcum and therefore almost certainly accidental,
1 See footnote regarding Naegleria, post.