FEALE 



Feale. River of Ireland. Rising 

 in N.W. co. Cork, it passes N.W. 

 between cos. Limerick and Kern 

 and thence W. through co. Kerry 

 to the Shannon, which it enters 

 as the Cashen. Its length is 37 m 



Fear. Feeling of mental uneasi- 

 ness arising from the expectation of 

 evil to come. Exercising a disturb- 

 ing and lowering effect, it drives the 

 blood to the heart, giving rise to 

 paleness and accelerated heart- 

 beat ; perspiration exudes from 

 the skin, the hair stands on end. 

 The eye, on the other hand, is 

 stimulated. The aggravated form 

 of fear is terror ; a modified form is 

 known as shyness. See Emotion 

 Psychology. 



Fear. Cape or headland of 

 North Carolina, U.S.A. It is the 

 extreme S. point of Smith's Island 

 and of the state. A lighthouse has 

 been erected on the point. 



Feast. Term applied to days 

 on which notable events in Church 

 history, giving occasion for solemn 

 joy, are commemorated. From this 

 has developed its use for occasions 

 of rejoicing in public or private; 

 for public dinners, e.g. mayoral or 

 civic feasts, etc. See Festival. 



Feather. Outgrowth from the 

 skin in birds, forming an external 

 protective covering. They do not 

 occur in any other phylum of the 

 animal kingdom, their place being 

 taken by hair in the mammals. 

 Feathers are of a horny character, 

 and are composed structurally of 

 an axis and a large number of 

 barbs. The hollow base of the axis 

 is fixed in the skin, and is known as 

 the quill. The small hole at its base 

 is the opening through which nutri- 

 tion is supplied during growth. The 

 solid upper part of the axis is called 

 the shaft, from which branches or 

 barbs grow out on either side. 

 These barbs have smaller branches 

 or barbules, which interlock and so 

 resist the pressure of the air in 

 flight. In flightless birds, as the 

 ostrich, the barbules do not inter- 

 lock, and the feathers are soft an'* 

 loose. , 



Although the body of a bird 

 appears to be pretty uniformly 

 covered with feathers, it is not 

 really so. The feathers grow in 

 definite tracts, and certain por- 

 tions of the body are without them. 

 Feathers are of many types, the 

 strongest being the flight feathers 

 on the wings. Small soft feathers, 

 known as down, form an underlayer 

 for purposes of warmth, and are 

 most developed in the water-fowl. 

 In some species, as the birds of 

 paradise, certain feathers are modi- 

 fied to produce plumes and crests 

 of varied form. , . 



Economically, feathers - were 

 formerly much used for stuffing 



3 1 O2 



FEATHER GRASS 



Feather. 1. Left, wing of wood pigeon ; right, of tawny owl. 2. Wing of 



chaffinch. 3. Primary feather of tawny owl ; above, of wood pigeon. 



4. Tail of male chaffinch 



beds, quilts,and cushions, especially 

 the down of the eider duck, but 

 have now largely given way to 

 more sanitary materials. They 

 are much employed for personal 

 adornment, and the larger quills 

 are still to some extent used as 

 pens. For long an agitation has 

 been carried on against the wear- 

 ing of feathers obtained from birds 

 of plumage. A 

 Plumage (Pro- 

 hibition) Bill 

 to prohibit 

 the importa- 

 tion of the 

 plumage of 

 birds and the 

 sale or pos- 

 se s s i o n of 

 plumage ille- 

 gally import- 

 ed was intro- 

 duced into 

 Parliament in 

 1920. (See Ostrich; Plumage.) 



The preparation of feathers for 

 the market includes cleaning, 

 blanching, dyeing, and curling or 

 bending to some required shape. 

 The most important decorative 

 feather is taken from the wings of 

 the ostrich, being cut close to the 

 root about three times in two 

 years ; the root either falling out 

 or being extracted later. The 

 feathers are sorted according to 

 size, colour, and quality, are well 

 washed, and sometimes dipped in 

 strong starch, then shaken together 

 in bundles in the hot sun until 

 quite dry. Burning sulphur is 

 sometimes used in purifying them. 

 All but feathers which are to be 

 dyed black need blanching, by 

 which cape feathers from the male 

 bird can be made perfectly white. 



Feather of common 

 fowl 



Stiff feathers have the quill scraped 

 with glass to make them more 

 pliable. Dyeing follows blanching, 

 and the last process is curling the 

 filaments according to the fashion 

 in vogue with a blunt knife. Some- 

 times they are glycerined instead 

 of curled, and under those con- 

 ditions they present a lank, thread- 

 like appearance. 



Feather. River of California, 

 U.S.A. Rising in many head- 

 streams in the Sierra Nevada range, 

 it flows S.W. and S. to the Sacra- 

 mento river about 20 m. above 

 Sacramento city. Over 230 m. 

 long, it is navigable for only 30 m. 

 Its basin contains valuable gold 

 deposits, which are extensively 

 worked. 



Feather Grass (Stipa pennata). 

 Perennial grass of the natural order 

 Gramineae. A native of Europe, it 

 was long cultivated in gardens as 

 an ornamental plant. The glume 

 containing the seed is covered with 

 stiff hairs pointing upwards, whilst 

 its base terminates in a sharp 

 point. Above it is continued as 

 a long, spirally twisted awn, ending 

 in a long feather-like tail, the 

 whole being about 1 ft. long. The 

 wind acting on the glume detaches 

 the seed, etc., from the plant, and 

 when it reaches the earth the 

 spiral, by expanding in dry and 

 contracting in wet weather, forces 

 the seed into the ground, the 

 bristles on the glume allowing it 

 to enter but preventing its return. 

 If these seeds get into the fleece 

 of sheep they are driven by the 

 same mechanism into the flesh of 

 the animal. Two allied species, 

 S. capillata (Russia) and S. sparlea 

 (N. America), are known to kill 

 sheep in this manner. 



