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Surface Cells of Feather Barbs

Abstract

FROM Strong's1 drawings it is evident that those cells of the cortex of the feather barb which lie nearest to the surface are flattened. No author, however, has directed attention to the fact that these cells differ in structural detail from the rest of the cortical elements. The surface cells of the feather barbs appear to form a pattern similar to some of the cuticular scale patterns seen on animal hairs. It was found that this pattern could be shown by making casts of the barbs in the same way as casts of animal fibres are made.

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References

  1. Strong, R. M., Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard, 40, 147 (1902).

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AUBER, L., APPLEYARD, H. Surface Cells of Feather Barbs. Nature 168, 736–737 (1951). https://doi.org/10.1038/168736b0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/168736b0

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