In Russia and in Holland quills were 

 dipped in boiling alum-water or diluted 

 nitric acid and then dried and clarified 

 in a bath of hot sand. Goose quills 

 were most used, turkey quills were 

 prized by many, and swan quills were 

 considered the best of all. Pens well 

 made from swan quills often sold as 

 high as four guineas a thousand, while 

 goose quill pens were to be had at 

 twenty shillings. For fine writing, 

 crow-quills were considered best, and 

 pen-and-ink drawings were generally 

 produced with the black-plumed arti- 

 cle. 



In 1832, to supplement the domestic 

 products in the manufacture of pens, 

 33,668,000 quills were imported into 

 England. The trade has not been en- 

 tirely killed by the advent of the steel 

 pen, for there are yet among us repre- 

 sentatives of the people of the olden 

 time who delight in the pretty little 

 squeak of the quill pen as it assists 

 them in their literary labors. 



Man early learned to rob the birds of 

 their coverings, not only for adorn- 

 ment, but also for warmth. Feather 

 beds were once reckoned as evidences 

 of wealth. Modern science has pointed 

 out the unhealthful condition of a bed 

 made soft and gaseous with feathers. 

 Few beds are now found of this sort 

 among the better-informed people of 

 America, but the traveler in the north- 

 ern countries of Europe not only has 

 to sleep on feathers but also under 

 them. The down coverlet is as es- 

 sential to a Danish bed as is clean 

 linen. 



The newest palace of the German 

 emperor is furnished in accordance with 

 the Teutonic idea, and the visitor to the 

 palace at Strasburg, when his majesty 

 is not there, is shown his royal bed 

 room with its single bed and double 

 featherings. 



Downy feathers grow most abun- 

 dantly on birds inhabiting cold regions. 

 Many young birds have an abundance 

 of downy feathers when first hatched. 

 In some cases it is well formed before 

 the egg is broken, firmly enclosed in a 

 tight roll of membrane to keep it dry. 

 On exposure to the air the membrane 

 bursts and the down wraps the nestling 

 in a comfortable coat. 



The stronger feather sometimes 

 grows out of the same place as the 

 downy one in such a way that it 

 pushes out the down to the outside of 

 the plumage and the bird appears to 

 have his underwear outside his over- 

 coat. 



The best eider-down is so light that 

 three-quarters of an ounce of it will fill 

 a large hat. It is so elastic that two or 

 three pounds may be compressed into 

 a ball that may be held in the hand. 



Some feathers have a second shaft 

 growing out of the end of the quill so 

 as to form a double feather, and in rare 

 instances there are two of these growths 

 from one quill, making a triple feather. 



Birds are warmer blooded than other 

 animals. What is a dangerous fever 

 temperature in the blood of man, is 

 natural and ordinary in a bird. As 

 birds fly rapidly, they could not live 

 if they were perspiring creatures be- 

 cause they would lose heat so fast. 

 Feathers protect them from the sud- 

 den changes of temperature and loss of 

 heat and strength. 



Feathers are important to the bird to 

 fly with; but even for this purpose they 

 are not absolutely necessary. There 

 are forms of animals that fly, as the bat 

 does, with their skin to beat the air. 

 There were once on the earth many 

 more skin-flying animals than there are 

 to-day. 



Feathers are modifications of the 

 scarf-skin. Wherever the skin is ex- 

 posed to sun, wind, or water it is mod- 

 ified in some way to contribute to the 

 well-being of the animal. The many 

 forms of feathers make a most fascinat- 

 ing study. 



A peculiar thing about them is that 

 they are not vascular. Vascular means 

 full of vessels. Almost everything that 

 grows is vascular. It has tubes to 

 carry in new material and little sacs or 

 large ones to store substance for new 

 growths. But dermal appendages, the 

 forms that grow out of the scarf-skin 

 and are modifications of it, are not vas- 

 cular. Take a feather two feet long, 

 and examine it to see how the feather 

 material was carried from the begin- 

 ning of the quill to the tip. You find 

 no veins and no circulation. Yet 

 feathers grow and their growth is quite 



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