FEATHERS 333 



3. They are sulphured in the same way as straw hats are (sec SULPHURING) ; they 

 are then dried by hanging upon cords, when they must bo well shaken from time to 

 time to open the fibres. 



The ribs are scraped with a bit of glass cut circularly, in order to render them very 

 pliant. By drawing the edge of a blunt knife over the filaments they assume the curly 

 form so much admired. 



Those feathers which are of a dingy colour are dyed black. For 20 pounds of 

 feathers, a strong decoction is made of 25 pounds of logwood in a proper quantity of 

 water. After boiling it for 6 hours, the logwood is taken out, 3 pounds of copperas 

 are thrown in, and, after continuing the ebullition for 15 or 20 minutes, the copper 

 is taken from the fire. The feathers are then immersed by handfuls, thoroughly 

 soaked, and worked about, and left in two or three days. They are next cleansed in 

 a very weak alkaline lye, and soaped three several times. When they feel very soft 

 to the touch, they must be rinsed in cold water, and afterwards dried. White feathers 

 are very difficult to dye a fine black. 



For dyeing other colours, the feathers should be previously wejl bleached by the 

 action of the sun and the dew ; the end of the tube being cut sharp like a toothpick, 

 and the feathers being planted singly in the grass. After fifteen days' exposure, they 

 are cleared with soap as above described. 



Hose colcttt or pink, is given by safflower and lemon-juice. 



Deep red, -by a boiling-hot bath of brazil-wood, after aluming. 



Crimson. The above deep-red feathers are passed through a bath of cudbear. 



Prune de Monsieur. The deep-red is passed through an alkaline bath. 



Slues of every shade, are dyed with the indigo vat. 



Yellow, after aluming, with a bath of turmeric or weld. 



Other tints may be obtained by a mixture of the above dyes. 



Feathers supply us with a soft elastic down on which we can repose our wearied 

 frames, and enjoy sweet slumbers. Such are called bed feathers. 



Goose feathers are most esteemed. There is a prejudice that they are best when 

 plucked from the living bird, which is done thrice a year, in spring, midsummer, and 

 the beginning of harvest. The qualities sought for in- bed 'feathers are softness, 

 elasticity, lightness, and warmth. Their only preparation when cleanly gathered is 

 a slight beating to clear away the loose matter, but for this purpose 'they must be first 

 well dried either by the sun or stove ; stoving or hot air being also . necessary to 

 remove any animal matter liable to putrefy. 



The feathers of the eider duck, Anas mollissima, called eider-down, possess in a 

 superior degree all the good qualities of goose-down. It is used only as a covering to 

 beds, and never should be slept upon, as it thereby loses its elasticity. 



Quills for writing. These consist usually of the feathers plucked out of the wings 

 of geese. Dutch quills have been highly esteemed, as the Dutch were the first who 

 hit upon the art of preparing them well, by clearing them both inside and outside from 

 a fatty humour with which they are naturally impregnated, and which prevents 

 the ink from flowing freely along the pens made with them. The Dutch for a long 

 time employed hot cinders or ashes to attain this end ; and their secret was preserved 

 very carefully, but it at length transpired, and the process was then improved. A 

 bath of very fine sand must be kept constantly at a suitable temperature, which is 

 about 140 F. ; into this the quill-end of the feather must be plunged, and left in it 

 a few instants. On taking the feathers out they must be strongly rubbed with a 

 piece of flannel, after which they are found to be white and transparent. Both car- 

 bonate of potash in solution and dilute sulphuric acid have been tried to effect the 

 same end, but without success. The yellow tint which gives quills the air of age, 

 is produced by dipping them for a short time in dilute muriatic acid, and then 

 making them perfectly dry. But this process must be preceded by the sand-bath 

 operation. 



Quills are dressed by the London dealers in two ways : by the one, they remain of 

 their natural colour ; by the other, they acquire a yellow tint. The former is called 

 the Dutch method, and the principal workman is called a Dutcher. He sits before a 

 small stove fire, into which he thrusts the barrel of the quill for about a second, then 

 lays its root quickly below his blunt-edged knife, called a hook, and, pressing this 

 firmly with the left hand, draws the quill briskly through with his right. The bed on 

 which the quill is laid to receive this pressure is called the plate. A skilful workman 

 can pass '2,000 quills through his hands in a day of ten hours. They are next cleansed 

 by being scrubbed by a woman with a piece of rough dog-fish skin, and then tied up 

 in bundles. 



In the goose's wing, the five exterior feathers only are valuable for writing ; the 

 .first is the hardest and roundest of all, but the shortest; the next two are the 

 best of the five. The heaviest quills are generally the best. 



