PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 
1(37 
The Hon. J. G. P. Vereker’s paper “ On the Resolution of Fodura” 
was read by Prof. Groves, photomicrographs of various aspects de- 
scribed being exhibited in illustration. 
The President said the subject was one which had often been before 
them, but he did not know if the explanation now given was exactly 
the same as they had heard before. Probably some of those present 
who were interested in the subject would be able to tell them. 
Mr. Nelson said that a friend of bis had done a great deal in 
this direction, examining scales of all sorts, bent scales, and broken 
ones in all sorts of ways, but had never yet seen featherlets sticking 
out in the manner described. Three little projections on a bent scale 
were the nearest things consistent with the idea of a beaded scale, 
and he believed that the effects were due to nothing more than a 
thickening of the membrane. With regard to the base markings, these 
were shown many years ago in the old rooms at King’s College by 
Mr. Powell, at the time he brought out his new oil-immersion lens. 
The mottling between the “ exclamation ” markings they had of course all 
seen, he had in fact often used these little crinkly markings as tests, 
but the cause of Dr. Piggott’s beads was the false appearance produced 
by this crinkling when viewed with oblique light, which had the effect 
of notching on the exclamation marks. With regard to Dr. Edmunds’ 
illuminator, it illuminated nothing unless it was mounted on the slip, 
and its practical effect was to reduce an oil-immersion to something 
worse than an ordinary dry lens, and as to what could be made out 
under such conditions he could only say that if things could not be 
seen with the best means obtainable, it was not very likely that they 
would be with those which were inferior. Few persons had much idea 
of the great difference there was in these podura scales until they 
began to examine a number of them ; he had at times gone over a lot of 
about 100 of them, and after careful sorting, had only been able to 
pick out about three or four as being worth having as test objects. 
Mr. J. E. Ingpen almost thought that Mr. Wenham considered that 
he had isolated the portions of the scale which caused the appearance 
of the “ note of exclamation ’’—this was many years ago, at the time 
he used to take an active interest in the meetings of the Society. He 
was not quite sure, speaking only from memory, but he believed it was 
done by heating the scale in some way on a slide, and that Mr. 
Wenham had succeeded in absolutely isolating this portion of the 
scale; he, at that time, considered the markings to be inflations of the 
membrane, but certainly capable of isolation. 
Mr. T. H. Gill fancied there was some one who said he had blown 
them off by an electric discharge. 
Mr. Nelson said at one time ho possessed a slide which had an 
isolated admiration mark, but he had never found a scale with one 
missing, and he concluded that when things looking like isolated marks 
were found occurring on slides, they were due to the methods of 
mounting. Occasionally small crystals were found, but they did not 
come from the scale. 
The President reminded the Fellows present that their next meet- 
ing would bo the Anniversary, and it would theroforo bo necessary to 
