| Preface to the 1969 Monograph |
| In recent years there has been a marked revival of interest in the Myxomycetes. Improved methods of culture, in the form of 2-member cultures of a pure strain of a myxomycete of known origin combined with a known strain of bacteria and, as yet to a lesser extent, of the plasmodium alone on a nutrient medium, have resulted in a number of papers discussing the physiology, cytology, and variation in ploidy of both amoebae and plasmodia, and incidentally stressing the modifications which may appear under cultural conditions. These and other studies, added to the long-known variations which a single species may assume within the wide range of environmental influences occurring in natural habitats, make it clear that many of our bases for classification must be reconsidered. It is too early as yet to evaluate the full impact of this new information on the taxonomy of the group, but in the meantime a survey of the known species, even though they are arranged in a conservative framework, may serve a useful purpose as a summary of current taxonomic approach. |
| The authors are aware of many of the deficiencies of the present treatment. It seems quite certain that some forms here recognized as species will, when better known, be reduced to synonymy with other species, and that some common and widely distributed species which show wide variation will perhaps be split. At a higher level, some genera may come to be regarded as superfluous, others will be broken up, and the families, orders and higher categories will be modified and rearranged. This will always be true of a work of this kind. An attempt has been made to cite and comment upon some of the suggested changes which have already been proposed and, when it seems appropriate, to mention others which may be worthy of consideration. |
| The illustrations are based on sketches and specimens from the Iowa collection sent to Mrs. Allen, who supplemented such material by the study of specimens from her own collection and from other sources, notably the material in the collection at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, including the Bilgram Collection, belonging to the Leidy Microscopical Society, also housed at the Academy. |
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