90 EVENINGS AT THE MICEOSCOPE. 



and glitters in the sunshine on waste places in' June. 

 Among the scales of ordinary form which clothe the 

 lovely little wings will occur one here and there of a 

 different shape from the rest. Here you may see one ; 

 it is much smaller than the average ; the foot-stalk is 

 very long, and the shape of the entire scale is that of a 

 battledoor. The ribs are rather few and coarse, and 

 they have this peculiarity, that each rib swells at inter- 

 vals into rounded dilatations, each of which has a minute 

 black point in its centre. In some of these battledoor 

 scales there is, near the lower part of the expansion, a 

 crescent of minute pigment-grains. 



The silvery grey surface of the front wings of a 

 common moth, known as the Buff-tip (Pygwra huce- 

 phald), is composed of scales of unusual magnitude, 

 and of a remarkable foi-m, their shape being that of an 

 expanded fan, and being quite distinguishable by the 

 unassisted eye. The ribs are very fine and numerous, 

 and there are diverging lines of pigment-grains run- 

 ning through the scale. 



Those of the Emperor Moth {8ai,urnia pwvonior 

 minor), are likewise triangular in outline, and are re- 

 markable for being deeply notched at the end ; so deep- 

 ly as to leave projecting points (from two to five) as 

 long as, or even longer than the integral portions of 

 the scale. 



In some species we find scales the tips of which are 

 furnished with a curious sort of fringe. This slide pre- 

 sents several such in the midst of many of a more ordi- 

 nary shape and appearance. The scales in question are 

 straight, and parallel-sided, rather narrow, with the 

 basal end rounded, and the terminal extremity tapered 

 abruptly to a point ; it is on each slope of this point 



