BORDERED PITS IN SPRUCE FROM OLD ITALIAN VIOLINS

Spruce from a variety of old Italian musical instruments has been studied in the scanning electron microscope, to examine the membranes of bordered pits for evidence of bacterial degradation. Such degradation would be evidence in favour of a suggestion which has been made recently that the makers of such instruments may have used wood which had been immersed in water for a significant period before use. No such evidence was found—no undamaged bordered pits could be found with membranes absent or damaged in this way. Some possible sources of confusion arising from the wide range of appearances of bordered pits are illustrated and discussed. 1990 Blackwell Science Ltd