68 Miscellaneous, 



stinctly beaded appearance when examined by a simple lens. Under 

 the microscope, with a moderate power, this beaded aspect is lost, 

 and the barbule appears merely divided by faint transverse partitions 

 into a series of cells, some of which, towards the apex, exhibit small 

 tooth-like projections representing the rudiments of barbicels (fig. 3). 

 All the barbs remaining on the feathers appear to be imperfect. 



Fig. 1. The basal portion of a feather detached from the skin, of the natural size : 

 a. The accessory shaft. 



2. Part of a barb with the barbules ; magnified 15 diameters. 



3. Apical portion of a barbule ; magnified 150 diameters. 



The barbs of the accessory plume are of the same general struc- 

 ture as those on the main shaft, but they appear to form a single 

 series on each side from the base. 



The barbs nearest the base of the feather, both in the main web 

 and the accessory plume, are destitute of barbules for some distance 

 from their base ; but this distance gradually decreases until the barb 

 is furnished with barbules throughout its whole length. 



It is evidently impossible to determine from these mere fragments 

 of feathers what was the precise structure of those organs when per- 

 fect ; we cannot even decide whether the basal barbs possessed the 



