212 Experiments and Ohservaliom on 'Feathers, 



pleasure for writing, become the interpreters of our thoughfs. 

 Among the Europeans, thev form an advantageous substi- 

 tute for the reeds employed by the Arabs, and for the style 

 with which the antients engraved upon tablets. 



There are feathers also proper for illling those cushions, 

 on which, when fatigued with the labours of the day, w(r 

 repose during the night. It is from among the latter that 

 Luxury herself has selected some of peculiar fineness, light- 

 ness, and elasticity, to form of them a bed on which she 

 enjoys gentle sleep. 



Plumes and other Ornaments of Lnxiiry, 

 The most beautiful and most es'tccnjcd of all the plumes 

 are those made of the feathers of the ostrich, that singular 

 biped, which has its feet and parts of generation like those 

 of quadrupeds, the head of birds, and the faculty of laying; 

 the stomach and intestines of nnninating animals, and yet 

 the gizzard of fowls; which has its body covered partly with 

 hair and partly with feathers; in a word, which has wings 

 which are not the instruments of flying, but only a kind of 

 balances, with which it supports itself, and easily preserves 

 an equilibrium in the exceedingly rapid courses which it per- 

 forms in the deserts of Africa. 



The plumage of the male is black, with some gray and 

 white feathers; that of the female is brown, and of an ash 

 gray; the large feathers of the wings and tail are white in 

 the male and black in the female. 



What in particular distinguishes these large feathers, and 

 renders them proper for making plumes, is, that they arc 

 soft, open, and flexible; that their barbs, composed of 

 detached filaments, without consistence and adhesion, are 

 long and full; and, lastly, that the white plumes of the 

 male are susceptible of assuming the finest tints. 



The rarity and high price of these ostrich feathers, which 

 are brought to us from the Levant, might, no doubt, have 

 suggested the idea of naturalising these birds in Europe, had 

 it been believed that they were capable of residing ii\ any 

 place but the burning sands of Arabia. But there is an- 

 other kind of ostrich, that of Magellan, which, inhabiting 

 the cold districts of South America, might thrive in our 

 climates : it would be necessary to introduce it, and to try 

 to multiply the breed, in order to take advantage of its eggs, 

 its flesh, and its feathers. 



Li the rjcan time, there is another speculation which 

 would succeed more speedily, and with more certainty ; it is ' 

 to multiply white turkeys, and to employ fur plumes the 

 3 feathers 



