the bark as an impalpable film of reddish dust and leaving on my skin a tinge of ruby russet.

EACH UNIT RESEMBLED A MUSHROOM

I brought my powerful pocket lens to bear upon the dainty individuals. Each unit, although actually less than a quarter of an inch in height, resembled, in the focus of my strong glass, a miniature morel, a small mushroom, though more marvelous than any I have ever seen.

Of the total height, a third was taken up by a slender stalk which at its base was attached to the bark. Surmounting this stalk was a cuplike expansion, which in turn supported a large, dense, elongated cluster of tangled threads-the sporangium (spore case).

That was all. Simple in form, in detail unadorned; yet how impressive! In the case of some individuals the sporangium was immature, as was evidenced by the filmy, iridescent membrane inclosing them. In others this membrane had burst and was still hanging in shreds, disclosing the compacted mass of spores within the network-indescribable in tint, in translucent texture, and in graceful dignity of form.

For want of a better term, I have called their color red. It was one of those rare reds, such as is produced by Nature only in her most delightful moods, as in the rosy reflex of a winter's dawn or in the evening glow that in summer oftentimes transfigures the world as well as the face of the setting sun.

I doubt if any other natural object has a color precisely like these slime molds. It is a red that is almost purple, yet not purple; it is a nuance of red, intriguing, ineffable, that leaves one guessing whether he sees a vibration of color or is receiving only a hazy, illusive impression.

SLIME TRANSFORMS INTO SPORE-CASES

At one edge of the colony the slime. molds were less crowded and, it seemed, less mature. In this place was visible a thin patch of glair, about the size of the palm of my hand, which glistened in the shadowy retreat like a filmy layer of silver-leaf (see page 443).

This patch of slime was significant. It was the last trace of a much larger portion that I had been watching for several

days. Even had its nature been unknown to me, I should readily have divined the reason for the diminution of its size because of an event that was now taking place before my eyes-the long-anticipated transformation of the slime into the colorful colony of pretty sporangia just described.

When, a few days earlier, I had been prowling through the swamp, chance brought me upon the log. At that time it was mostly bare over the area now occupied by the slime molds, except for an exceedingly delicate and almost invisible pellicle of a creamy texture which caught

my eye.

THE MASS WAS MOVING

After studying the filmy mass I had become aware that it was moving. Spreading out fan-shaped, it advanced its borders almost as slowly as does the hour-hand of a clock. The rest remained stationary and was connected by a cordlike vein that led into a minute crack in the log.

As the advancing edge seemed to be the only part in motion and the area of the mass meanwhile was increasing, it was evident that the materials for this augmentation were coming from within the log by flowing through the vein.

I realized that a migration was taking place that this curious mass of glair, which normally lives and grows in darkness in moisture-laden tissues of decaying wood, had arrived at the period of its existence when it must reach the outer air and light to reproduce and to enhance the favorable distribution of its spores.

During my visits on succeeding days, the only observable changes had been in the increasing area of the slime and in the shifting of its location. It had wandered, crossed and recrossed its path on the tree trunk, leaving a well-defined trail of organic refuse over its course. Yet slowly and continuously it had kept on the move, like some lost creature uncertain of its way, groping aimlessly about, apparently without other purpose than to follow the most fortuitous route. But in none of its excursions did it travel more than a yard along the length of the log.

Finally its traveling ceased and it began. to separate into pellucid particles somewhat smaller than rice grains.