USES OF FEATHERS. The chief uses to which feathers are applied in the arts are three pens, due to the peculiar elasticity of the barrels; bed feathers, due to the combined softness and elas ticity of the barbs; and ornament, due to the graceful forms and delicate tints of the whole feather. The mode of preparing the barrels for pens is described under QUILL.
Bed-feathe•s were used in England in the time of Henry VII.; but it is not known how much earlier. At the present day, goose-feathers are preferred, the white rather than the gray. What are called poultry feathers, such as those of the turkey, duck, and fowl, are less esteemed, on account of their deficient elasticity. Wild-duck feathers are soft and elastic, but contain an oil difficult to remove. The following is one among several modes of preparing feathers for beds: Clean water is saturated with quiet:lime; the feathers are put into a tub, and lime-water is added to the depth of a few inches; the feathers are well steeped and stirred for three or four days; they are taken out, drained, washed in clean water, dried upon nets, shaken occasionally while drying„ and finally beaten to expel any dust. The larger establishments, however, now prepare bed-feathers by steaming, which is found to be a more profitable and efficient process. The down, which is of so light and exquisite a texture as to have become the symbol of softness, is mostly taken from the breasts of birds, and forms a warm and delicate stuffing for beds, pillows, and coverlets. The most valuable is that ob tained from the eider-duck, described under Et omit.
Feathers used for head-dresses, or of her purposes of ornament, are selected according to the forms and colors which they display. Thy ostrich, a very valuable kind of feather, may be taken as an example of the way in which ornamental feathers generally are prepared by the pinny's sier. The mode of catching the bird itself is not iced under OSTRICH ; it SlIdices here to state that the hunters endeavor to avoid injuring the feathers by blood or blows. When brought to
market, the feathers are assorted according to quality: those from the baek and above the wings are the best. the wing-feathers best, mid the tail-feathe•s least valued. The feathers of the male are rather more prized than those of the female. They are cleaned for use by repeated soakings and washings in water, sometimes with and sometimes without soap. There is also a process of bleaching by means of burning sulphur. \\ hen dried by Being hung upon cords, the feath ers pass into the hands of the dresser, who opens the fibres by shaking, gives pliancy to the ribs by scraping them with bits of glass, and curls the filaments by passing the edge of a blunt kifife over them. Lf the feathers. whether of the ostrich or any other bird, remain in the natural color, little more has to he dime; but if a change of tint be required, the feather is easily dyed. A process of bleaching is adopted before the dye ing, except for black.
The kinds of feathers chiefly used for ornament are those of the ostrich, adjutant. rhea or Ameri can ostrich, eineu, osprey, egret, heron, bird of paradise. swan, turkey. peacock, argils pheasant, ibis, eagle, and grebe. White ostrich-feathers are prepared chiefly for ladies' headdresses and black for the Highland regiments and for funeral trappings. The white and gray ma•about-stork feathers, imported from Calcutta. are beautifully soft and light, and are in request for head dresses, muffs, and hens; the white kinds will sometimes sell for their weight in gold. The flossy kinds of rhea-feather are used for military plumes, and the long brown wing-feathers for brooms and brushes. Osprey and egret feathers are mostly used for military plumes by hussar troopers. Bird-of-paradise feathers are much sought after by Oriental princes for turban plumes. Cocks' feathers are also used for ladies' riding-hats, and for military plumes. See AICRET.