45 



P. argiohts and P. argus have been proposed as test objects. They 

 are of two kinds— one resembling in structure the ordinary scales of 

 insects, the other of a battledore form." 



What his friend did with his blues he did not know, he (Mr. W) care- 

 fully removed the scales from the under surface of one of the blues and 

 found not a single battledore. Having placed a wing upperside down- 

 wards on a glass slide to enable him to search over the wing, he found, 

 after a futile and long continued search, that a considerable number of 

 scales detached from the upper surface of the wing were upon the 

 glass slide ; focussing down to these he found battledores in plenty, 

 but not exactly like those figured in the book. He then realised this 

 fact, that battledores were to be found on the upper surface of the 

 wings of Polyotnmaius, or, as it was now called, Lyccena akxis, differ- 

 ing in form from those figured as obtained from Z. ar^iobis. This led 

 him to try whether he could find " battledore '' scales on other blues 

 than Z. akxis, the common blue, or Z. aigiohis, the azure blue, for to 

 those unacquainted with such differences among " blues " he should 

 mention we had, in England, nine different spedes of " blues," such as 

 the Common, Azure, Clifden, Mazarine, Chalk-hill, Silver-studded, 

 " large " and " little " blue, and rare " long tailed " blue. 



Through the kindness of an entomological friend he secured 

 examples of nearly all, and, strangely enough, found battledore scales 

 on the upper surface of both wings in some cases, and not in others. 

 It turned out that the insects on which he had been unable to find 

 battledores were females, while those on which he had found them 

 were males. This caused him to make a critical examination of the 

 blue family generally, and he then discovered these two facts— 

 the battledores were found on the upper side of the wings of the males 

 07tly, and in rows beneath the ordinary scales, and at their intervals of 

 overlapping. He should mention that, among the blues, the males 

 only were of a deep blue colour ; the females generally were of a 

 brownish hue, with a few blue scales, and this might have led to the 

 assertion that battledore scales were found on the "blues." It was 

 true some females adorned themselves with so great a profusion that 

 they simulated the garb of the males, much in the same way as the 

 erstwhile " weaker sex " among humanity, since the cry of woman's 

 rights had been raised, assumed the get-up and garments of the 

 " lords of creation," but on no female, however highly coloured, had 

 he been able to find " battledores." 



