THEIR HABITATS GENERALLY. 27
one of the minute sporangia had formed on a moss leaf, to which
" giddy height," as he remarks, the plasmodium must have crept
quite two millimetres away from its feeding-grounds.
Bone.—Mycetozoa are sometimes found on old bones lying
in pastures, but in such cases their feeding stage has probably
been passed amongst the vegetable matter of the turf on which
the bones rested. One undoubted instance is known, however,
of plasmodium feeding within the substance of bone. In the
grounds of the British Museum, Cromwell Road, the skull of a
Sperm-whale had been put to macerate in one of the sand pits
prepared for that purpose. After some months, aethalia of
Fuligo septica appeared on the surface of the sand overlying the
skull. Later, the skull itself was removed and placed on turf
to undergo further cleaning. From it, fresh aethalia emerged
throughout the summer of 1913, and again in 1914. I am in-
debted to Mr. S. F. Harmer, head of the Zoological Department
of the British Museum, for kindly directing my attention to this
interesting occurrence. In tan-heaps, the classic haunt of Fuligo
septica, or " Flowers of Tan," animal matter from hides enriches
the beds of oak-bark and affords a mixed diet for the plas-
modium ; but, in the case of the whale's skull, there seems to
be no doubt that the plasmodium had fed entirely on the fats
and other animal substances embedded in the bones.
In concluding these notes, I am well aware how imperfect
and incomplete the references to the many and varied haunts
of the Mycetozoa are; but they may serve, perhaps, as a rough
scaffolding about which further observations may be built up.
To those of us who search for Mycetozoa, these haunts have a
singular fascination, and we would gladly share their charm
with other naturalists.
The following lists are intended to serve as a guide indicating
some of the Mycetozoa characteristic of the different haunts
described. They do no more than suggest a few of the species
that may be found, and of these, it must be remembered, many
are by no means restricted to a single habitat.