When a zinc anode in a strongly alkaline electrolyte is observed under a microscope, two different films can be noted under appropriate conditions. Although both have been identified as zinc oxide, type I is white and forms by precipitation from a supersaturated layer of electrolyte covering the electrode. Type II , on the other hand, seems to form directly on the electrode surface. Its color can range from light gray to black. During dissolution of the type II film, entities appear which resemble spiderwebs under the microscope. These so‐called cobwebs seem to form by the gathering together of the darkening agent in this film. They are mainly zinc, are electronically conducting, and can be oxidized. Cobwebs appear to have a relationship to the hydrogen evolution that occurs at potentials anodic to the zinc rest potential. They are important, in addition, because during subsequent electrodeposition they accelerate the formation of spongy zinc at low cathodic potentials and of dendritic zinc at higher ones.