34 



LOVE S MEINIE. 



constructed, in order to ensure a redundance 

 of material in the plume, so that no accident 

 or pressure from wind may leave a gap any- 

 where. How this redundance is obtained 

 you will see in a moment by bending any 

 feather the wrong way. Bend, for instance, 



this plume, B, 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 edge. But let the piume return 

 into its proper form, B, and the tissue being 

 now contracted into a smaller space, the edge 

 waves are formed in it instantly. 



