106 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



General observations. 



tion. The old ones have a closer, warmer plu- 

 mage, than birds of any other class. It is of 

 their feathers that our beds are composed ; as 

 they neither mat nor imbibe humidity, but arc 

 furnished with an animal-oil, that glazes their 

 surface, and keeps each separate. In some, 

 however, this animal-oil is in too great abun- 

 dance; and is as offensive from its smell as it is 

 serviceable for the purposes of household econo- 

 my. The feathers, therefore, of all the penguin 

 kind, are totally useless for domestic purposes ; 

 as neither boiling nor bleaching can divest them 

 of their oily rancidity. Indeed, the rancidity of 

 all new feathers, of whatever water fowl they be, 

 is so disgusting, that our upholsterers give near 

 double the price for old feathers that they afford 

 for new : to be free from smell, they must all be 

 lain upon for some time ; and their usual method 

 is to mix the new and the old together. 



The quantity of oil, with which most water 

 fowl are supplied, contributes also to their warmth 

 in the moist element where they reside. Their 

 skin is* generally lined with fat ; so that, with the 

 warmth of the feathers externally, and this natu- 

 ral lining more internally, they are better de- 

 fended against the changes or the inclemencies 

 of the water, than any other class whatever. 



