30 



love's meenie. 



appearance was owing to a slight ruffling or disorder of 

 the filaments ; but it is entirely normal, and, I doubt not, 

 so constructed, in order to ensure a redundance of ma- 

 terial in the plume, so that no accident or pressure from 

 wind may leave a gap anywhere. How this redundance 

 is obtained you will see in a moment by bending any fea- 

 ther the wrong way. Bend, for instance, this plume, b, 



Fig. 3. 



A 



Fig. 2, into the reversed curve, a, Fig. 2 ; then all the 

 filaments of the plume become perfectly even, and there 

 are no waves at the Q(S.g<i. But let the plume return into 

 its proper form, b, and the tissue being now contracted in- 

 to a smaller space, the edge waves are formed in it 

 instantly. 



Hitherto, I have been sjieaking only of the filaments 

 arranged for the strength and continuity of the energetic 

 plume ; they are entirely different when they are set 



