The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-05-08
WORK OF AYEAR i'm NATURAL HISTORY

ara are classified by good authorities
among animals. because during part
Of their life they creep along Ike giant
amoeba, one Of the lowest animals Iney
appear as Shiny mass OF varying color,
hence their common name OK SHINE
Mods They avoid light. living IN rot
ten logs and stumps under bark and fall
en- leaves, and In such other moist places
as offer them decaysng vegetable matter
for food When the fruit.ng time comes
they form a spore-case. Ike some or the
fungi. and are usually included In the
vegetable kingdom. Soma OF these spore-
cases are quite large, but most OF them
very small. appearing like 50 many Pin
heads.
Extremely Minute Sculpture.
These slime mods are quite common In
all the wooded regions q the globe and
IN the shado OF our pr.meval forests they
seem TO have found veritable paradise.
They cover logs, bark, sticks and almost
any kind OF decaying wood. Most OF them
are very small. OF different colors-sone
golden. others purpiish or gray or black:
indeed. OF almost any color. Within each
OF the little p.n-heads are found Thousands
and thousands OF spores and lace-like fla
ments. Beautiful is the structure. sculp-
.ured with lines 50 fine that it requires
a very good microscope TO trace the
windings and coils and spiral bands OF the
spores and filaments. In fact the ciassi-
fication Is based on the sculpture and col
or OF the spores and filaments.
Stronger MagnifytnK Instruments.
When the work on these minute forms
was begun by Mr.. Jackol il became evil
dent that the microscopes used in class
work were not powerful enough for the
critical study. Upon the recommendation
Of President Reeves. the board OF regents
ordered some improvements which raised
the magnifying power Of the microscope
from about 400 times to about ! so times.
But when an object Is magnified $500
times the amount Of light that passes
through the microscope to the eye is only
a very small fraction OF the light that
falls on the object under the microscope.
A condenser OF light was consequently
ordered, and to make the equipment com
plets an apparatus for measuring these
diminutive objects was added to the or
der.
With the aid Of these improved equip
ments Mr.. Jackol began to compare the
washington slime moldS or nycetozoa
with the type forms sent by Mr.. Arthur
Lister. director OF the British botanical
museum. 1t soon became evident that the
heretofore little known Pacific coast my
cetozoa are very different from the Euro
pean forms. In many cases the differ
ences are so great that the specimens
could be described as new species; but
Mr.. Jackol wanted to see some type
forms from the eastern states. His cor
respondencs has already borne some fruit.
A few days ago forty-eight type speci-
mems were received from Prof T. II. Mac
bride OF the Iowa state university, to-
Gether with his work on the mycetozoa
Of Iowa Sixty-six species are recorded
frx,yY> sbaS Ctu A~zA - J.
although the gathering in this state has
been made In the immediate vicinity CT
Seattle, the number OF species is rapidly
approaching that OF Iowa. However be-
fore anything is published in the way of
describing new species, Mr.. Jaekol Will
look up more type-forms. Correspondence
is now in progress with many scientists
in the eastern states and Europe and with
Prof. Jinzo Matsumura, OF the Imperial
university, Tokyo. Japan.
With the Young NaturaIists.
Mr.. Jackol is member Of the Young
Naturalists' Society OF Seattle, and he
will probably join the proposed expedition
by that society TO Orcas island this sum-
mer, as he hopes 10 collect materials over
as wido a range as possible during the
summer vacation. 1t is expected that
some forms OF slime moids which do not
seem to thrive In tha neighborhood OF Sc
attic will be found in abundance on Orcas
island These slime molds have crystals Of
lime deposited In the walls OF their spore-
cases On Orcas island, 1t Is said, lime Is
a more abundant constituent of the wa
tiers than elsewhere in the state. where
the waters are almost devoid of lime.
great many forms of vegetable life re-
quire lime to build UP their tissues and
consequently cannot flourish In this state.
Along this line some valuable tests and
analyses will soon be made to determine
the exac. proportions OF lime in the waters
of our lakes and streams.
Beetles with Parasitic Fungi.
Mr. Jackors collecting this summer will
noe DO restricted by slime molds. Plants
of all kinds will be collected. Most of this
material will be worked over by special
lists Of Eastern universities. Tho material
from Washington Is especially desired