--- a/scripts/plot/draw/private/__scatter__.m	Wed Sep 07 20:15:02 2016 -0700
+++ b/scripts/plot/draw/private/__scatter__.m	Thu Sep 08 11:23:01 2016 -0700
@@ -39,13 +39,13 @@
   if (istart <= nargin)
     s = varargin{istart}(:);
     if (isempty (s) || ischar (s))
-      s = 6;
+      s = 36;
     endif
     if (! ischar (varargin{istart}))
       istart += 1;
     endif
   else
-    s = 6;
+    s = 36;
   endif
 
   ## Remove NaNs
@@ -76,10 +76,14 @@
       c = c(:);
     endif
   elseif (firstnonnumeric == istart && ischar (varargin{istart})
-          && ! (   strcmpi (varargin{istart}, "filled")
-                || strcmpi (varargin{istart}, "fill")))
-    c = varargin{istart};
-    firstnonnumeric += 1;
+          && any (tolower (varargin{istart}(1)) == "ymcrgbwk"))
+    [linespec, valid] = __pltopt__ (fcn, varargin{istart}, false);
+    if (valid)
+      c = varargin{istart};
+      firstnonnumeric += 1;
+    else
+      c = [];
+    endif
   else
     c = [];
   endif
@@ -111,18 +115,24 @@
     elseif ((ischar (arg) || iscellstr (arg)) && ! have_marker)
       [linespec, valid] = __pltopt__ (fcn, arg, false);
       if (valid)
+        ## Valid linestyle, but possibly not valid marker
         have_marker = true;
         marker = linespec.marker;
         if (strcmp (marker, "none"))
           marker = "o";
         elseif (isempty (marker))
           have_marker = false;
-          [~, marker] = __next_line_style__ ();
+          marker = "o";
         endif
       else
-        error ("%s: invalid linespec", fcn);
+        ## Prop/Val pair
+        newargs{end+1} = arg;
+        if (iarg <= nargin)
+          newargs{end+1} = varargin{iarg++};
+        endif
       endif
     else
+      ## Prop/Val pair
       newargs{end+1} = arg;
       if (iarg <= nargin)
         newargs{end+1} = varargin{iarg++};
@@ -156,6 +166,7 @@
   addlistener (hg, "sizedata", @update_data);
 
   one_explicit_color = ischar (c) || isequal (size (c), [1, 3]);
+  s = sqrt (s);  # size adjustment for visual compatibility w/Matlab
 
   if (numel (x) <= 100)
 
@@ -377,6 +388,7 @@
   endif
   filled = ! strcmp (get (h, "markerfacecolor"), "none");
   s = get (h, "sizedata");
+  s = sqrt (s);  # size adjustment for visual compatibility w/Matlab 
   if (numel (s) == 1)
     s = repmat (s, numel (x), 1);
   endif

--- a/scripts/plot/draw/scatter.m	Wed Sep 07 20:15:02 2016 -0700
+++ b/scripts/plot/draw/scatter.m	Thu Sep 08 11:23:01 2016 -0700
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@
 ##
 ## The size of the markers is determined by @var{s}, which can be a scalar
 ## or a vector of the same length as @var{x} and @var{y}.  If @var{s}
-## is not given, or is an empty matrix, then a default value of 8 points is
-## used.
+## is not given, or is an empty matrix, then a default value of 36 square
+## points is used (The marker size itself is @code{sqrt (s)}).
 ##
 ## The color of the markers is determined by @var{c}, which can be a string
 ## defining a fixed color; a 3-element vector giving the red, green, and blue
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
 ## a scaled index into the current colormap; or an @nospell{Nx3} matrix
 ## defining the RGB color of each marker individually.
 ##
-## The marker to use can be changed with the @var{style} argument, that is a
+## The marker to use can be changed with the @var{style} argument; it is a
 ## string defining a marker in the same manner as the @code{plot} command.
 ## If no marker is specified it defaults to @qcode{"o"} or circles.
 ## If the argument @qcode{"filled"} is given then the markers are filled.
@@ -52,8 +52,8 @@
 ## If the first argument @var{hax} is an axes handle, then plot into this axis,
 ## rather than the current axes returned by @code{gca}.
 ##
-## The optional return value @var{h} is a graphics handle to the created patch
-## object.
+## The optional return value @var{h} is a graphics handle to the created
+## scatter object.
 ##
 ## Example:
 ##
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
 ## @seealso{scatter3, patch, plot}
 ## @end deftypefn
 
-function retval = scatter (varargin)
+function h = scatter (varargin)
 
   [hax, varargin, nargin] = __plt_get_axis_arg__ ("scatter", varargin{:});
 
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
   end_unwind_protect
 
   if (nargout > 0)
-    retval = htmp;
+    h = htmp;
   endif
 
 endfunction
@@ -101,24 +101,24 @@
 %! clf;
 %! x = randn (100, 1);
 %! y = randn (100, 1);
-%! scatter (x, y, 'r');
-%! title ('scatter() plot with red bubbles');
+%! scatter (x, y, "r");
+%! title ("scatter() plot with red bubbles");
 
 %!demo
 %! clf;
 %! x = randn (100, 1);
 %! y = randn (100, 1);
 %! c = x .* y;
-%! scatter (x, y, 20, c, 'filled');
-%! title ('scatter() with colored filled bubbles');
+%! scatter (x, y, 50, c, "filled");
+%! title ("scatter() with colored filled bubbles");
 
 %!demo
 %! clf;
 %! x = randn (100, 1);
 %! y = randn (100, 1);
 %! scatter (x, y, [], sqrt (x.^2 + y.^2));
-%! title ({'scatter() plot'; ...
-%!         'bubble color determined by distance from origin'});
+%! title ({"scatter() plot"; ...
+%!         "bubble color determined by distance from origin"});
 
 %!demo
 %! clf;
@@ -126,10 +126,9 @@
 %! rand_10x1_data6 = [0.37460, 0.25027, 0.19510, 0.51182, 0.54704, 0.56087, 0.24853, 0.75443, 0.42712, 0.44273];
 %! x = rand_10x1_data5;
 %! y = rand_10x1_data6;
-%! s = 10 - 10*log (x.^2 + y.^2);
-%! h = scatter (x, y, [], 'r', 's');
-%! title ({'scatter() plot'; ...
-%!         'marker is square, color is red'});
+%! h = scatter (x, y, [], "r", "s");
+%! title ({"scatter() plot"; ...
+%!         "color is red, marker is square"});
 
 %!demo
 %! clf;
@@ -137,10 +136,9 @@
 %! rand_10x1_data4 = [0.020207, 0.527193, 0.443472, 0.061683, 0.370277, 0.947349, 0.249591, 0.666304, 0.134247, 0.920356];
 %! x = rand_10x1_data3;
 %! y = rand_10x1_data4;
-%! s = 10 - 10*log (x.^2 + y.^2);
-%! h = scatter (x, y, [], 'r', 's', 'filled');
-%! title ({'scatter() plot'; ...
-%!         'marker is square, marker is filled, color is red'});
+%! h = scatter (x, y, [], "r", "s", "filled");
+%! title ({"scatter() plot"; ...
+%!         "color is red, marker is square, marker is filled"});
 
 %!demo
 %! clf;
@@ -148,10 +146,10 @@
 %! rand_10x1_data2 = [0.75495, 0.83991, 0.80850, 0.73603, 0.19360, 0.72573, 0.69371, 0.74388, 0.13837, 0.54143];
 %! x = rand_10x1_data1;
 %! y = rand_10x1_data2;
-%! s = 10 - 10*log (x.^2 + y.^2);
-%! h = scatter (x, y, s, s, 's', 'filled');
-%! title ({'scatter() plot with filled square markers', ...
-%!         'size and color of markers determined by algorithm'});
+%! s = 36 - 30*log (x.^2 + y.^2);
+%! h = scatter (x, y, s, s, "s", "filled");
+%! title ({"scatter() plot with filled square markers", ...
+%!         "size and color of markers determined by algorithm"});
 
 %!demo
 %! clf;
@@ -178,7 +176,7 @@
 %!     endif
 %!     subplot (2,3,k);
 %!     k = k + 1;
-%!     scatter (x, y, 15, colors, "filled");
+%!     scatter (x, y, [], colors, "filled");
 %!     axis ([0 1 0 1]);
 %!     title (str);
 %!   endfor
@@ -209,7 +207,7 @@
 %!     endif
 %!     subplot (2,3,k);
 %!     k = k + 1;
-%!     scatter (x, y, 15, colors);
+%!     scatter (x, y, [], colors);
 %!     axis ([0 1 0 1]);
 %!     title (str);
 %!   endfor