FAWKES 



2144 



FEATHERS 



two-line Bible, from the number of lines of 

 type to a column, and a Latin and German 

 Bible. Faust continued the business with his 

 son-in-law, Peter Schoffer, until his death, 

 which occurred in 1466, supposedly from the 

 plague. Several copies of their books still ex- 

 ist. See GUTENBERG, JOHANNES; PRINTING. 



FAWKES, jawks, GUY (1570-1606), a con- 

 spirator who endeavored to avenge the persecu- 

 tion of Roman Catholics in England by blow- 

 ing up King James I and the Parliament. Gun- 

 powder was hidden beneath the Houses of 

 Parliament, and all was in readiness, when 

 Fawkes was betrayed and captured. Novem- 

 ber 5 is still celebrated as Guy Fawkes Day. 

 See GUNPOWDER PLOT. 



FEAR, a cape in North Carolina, extending 

 from Smith Island into the Atlantic Ocean; it 

 is near the southern extremity of the coast- 

 line of the state. Navigation is dangerous 

 around this point, because of the frequent 

 storms; it is this fact which gave rise to its 

 name. 



FEASTS. See FESTIVALS. 



FEATH'ERS, outgrowths of the skins of 

 all birds, which furnish them the means of 

 flight and provide light, warm, attractive body 

 coverings. They are not only a delight to the 

 eye of man but are of value in the arts and 

 industries. 



Four Kinds and Four Parts. In an age long 

 past, the present graceful songster of the air 

 belonged to the same family as the ugly, scale- 

 covered reptile, a kinship which is made ap- 

 parent by a study of the feathery covering of 

 the bird. With the aid of a microscope one 

 may see the scale-like growths on the skin, 

 from which have pushed forth the wing and 

 tail quill feathers; the general covering of 

 contour feathers; the soft, plume-like down 

 feathers, lying between the later contour feath- 

 ers, and, finally, the hair-like pin feathers, 

 which the housewife singes off in preparing 

 poultry for the table. 



Studying just one feather from the point of 

 its growth, one would see first the quill, a 

 strong, round, horny, tapering stem, hollow in 

 the lower part, and extending into a pith-filled 

 shaft. From each side of the shaft grows a 

 web of fibers called barbs, arranged in regular 

 order and forming, together with the shaft, 

 the vane. Sometimes the barbs of a vane are 

 edged with barbules, which interlock with 

 those on the edges of adjacent barbs. Such a 

 vane is very close and strong. 



Feathers do not grow from all parts of the 



skin, however, but only in definite places 

 called pterylae; the bare intervening spaces 

 are covered by the overlapping feathers. Peri- 

 odically feathers are shed and renewed by a 

 process called molting. 



PARTS OF A FEATHER 

 (<7) Quill (p) Pith 



(s) Shaft (d) Downy portion 



(v) Vane 



Commercial Uses. The chief uses of feathers 

 are for stuffing bedticks, quilts, cushions and 

 upholstery; they are also used for ornamen- 

 tation. In a former day they were made into 

 pens. For the first four uses named, feathers 

 of ducks and geese are most valuable, espe- 

 cially those of the eider duck. Through ef- 

 forts of Audubon societies there is a dimin- 

 ishing use of feathers as ornaments, but sta- 

 tistics show that feather goods manufactured 

 in the United States yearly are valued at 

 about $35,000,000, and in Canada at about 

 $400,000. 



Prices vary with quality, coloring and extent 

 of supply. The most expensive feathers, used 

 in millinery and women's headdress and by 

 Oriental princes, are those of the bird of para- 

 dise. 



Feathers from the egret, known as aigrettes, 

 are becoming more scarce and are growing in- 

 creasingly expensive. They are used for mil- 

 itary plumes as well as on hats and in the 

 hair of women. Drooping, graceful ostrich 

 plumes, in natural colors or dyed in many 

 shades and tints, are used for headdress, muffs, 

 boas and ornamentation of costumes. Soft, 

 light, fluffy feathers of some of the storks are 

 as widely used as ostrich feathers. 



Brilliantly-colored feathers of various other 

 birds, such as humming birds, pheasants, 

 grebes, peacock and turkeys, are used for per- 

 sonal adornment by people of all nations and 

 in all stages of civilization, and even the com- 

 monest, plainest feathers are dyed and ef- 

 fectively employed. 



Related Subjects. The reader Is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes: 

 Audubon Society Molting 



Bird Ostrich 



Bird of Paradise Pheasant 



Egret Poultry 



