Notes. . 11 



Ostricli Feathers and their Origin. 



The ostricli feather industry of South Africa dates from the year 

 1865, and during the course of the half-century of its existence has 

 g-reatly enriched our country, o'iving- it pride ot place as the world's 

 chief producer of hig'h-class plumes. It will be understood that an 

 industry dcToted to the production of an article or fashion is subject 

 to fluctuations, and so with ostrich feathers there have been depres- 

 sions and booms frojn time to time. The market boomed in the late 

 " seventies " and early " eighties,'' collapsed a few years later, and 

 revived again in the later "nineties." From 1905 the industry 

 made great progress, which reached tiie zenith of its present history 

 in 1913, when the value of ostrich feathers exported was nearly 

 three million pounds sterli?ig. Tliou came another slump and the 

 war : the export of feathers fell off tremendously, the number of 

 ostriches was reduced by half, and the industry generally declined 

 until in 1918 it reached its lowest depths, the value of teathers 

 exported that year being actually less than it was 30 years earlier. 

 Afterwards, in 1919, there cune a distinct revival in trade, but the 

 volume of that year's business has not since been maintained, the 

 trade having dwindled a good deal, and at present the demand is 

 quiet. Tet while the industry is not nov\- occupying the high 

 position of former years in the Union's export trade, it is confidently 

 expected by tliose intimately connectinl with ostrich leather j^roduc- 

 tion that the present eclipse is temporary and that the oeautiful 

 ostrich plume is destined again to figure prominently as a source of 

 productive wealth to the Union. Farmers would, therefore, be 

 well advised to collect what birds they have retained and to fatten 

 them up for the breeding season. 



It is not only the trade in feathers that has been a source of 

 enrichment to the country ; the story of ostrich farming in South 

 Africa goes hand in hand with early irrigation enterprise, which 

 owes its inception to the necessities of lucerne cultivation induced by 

 the needs of the ostriches. Thus both directly and through its 

 stimulation to irrigation schemes, the ostrich has brought consider- 

 able benefit to the country, and those who have shared in the 

 prosperity of the past, as well as those who are sanguine of future 

 development, will naturally take a great interest in the origin of 

 the feather that is known far and wide as one of tlie nost beautiful 

 of nature's products. The various factors xhat have contributed to 

 the growth of the industry in South Africa present a story far 

 removed from the prosaic ; and a particularly interesting aspect is 

 discussed in this issue of the Journal in an article on " The Origin 

 of Feathers from the Scales of Eeptiles." It is written by Professor 

 Duerden, well known for his valuable publications, the result of 

 original research into matters concerning 'he ostrich. He has 

 been in residence at the Grootfontein School of Agriculture, engaged 

 upon the comparative anatomy of the ostrich, from which study 

 results of practical value to the farmer are expected. The present 

 work deals with the problem of" the origin of ostrich feathers, their 

 evolution from the scales of reptiles, and the relationship between 

 scale and feather. It has long been accepted by zoologists that in 

 the course of evolution birds have sprung from reptiles and that 

 feathers have come from horny scales, but the manner in which the 



