In the newly formed chick the first indication of feathers is the formation of papillæ, which is constituted by the upward growth of the dermis, or the sensitive and vascular parts of the skin. Then the skin immediately around the papilla sinks downward, so that later the papilla is inclosed in a follicle of the skin. The epidermis over the papilla is the same as over the rest of the surface. The horny outer layer of the epidermis forms for the growing feather a protective sheath which is cast off as the feather is formed. The feather proper develops from the underlying germinative layer, which as the feather develops, forms a cylinder of cells. The lower part of the cylinder is in touch with the papilla; this later becomes the quill (Fig. 80, No. 2). The upper part of the cylinder develops the web portion of the feather. As soon as the feather is fully developed the papilla, which has projected into the quill and nourished it, is withdrawn, and the quill becomes filled with a pithlike material forming septa, which extend in different directions. Once a year, usually in the late summer or in the fall, the entire feather coat is changed. This process is called _molting_. During this time the bird appears in a somewhat depressed condition, the hen almost always ceases laying. Birds also molt in the spring, to a limited extent. The male at this time takes on the so-called breeding plumage, which is the most beautiful of the year. It has recently been established by Rice, that the young fowl, in reaching a stage of egg production, molts five times before the laying period begins. The =structure of the skin= of fowls is similar to that of the skin of mammals. The skin consists of two layers the outer portion, or _epidermis_, and the inner true skin, the _cutis_, _corium_, or _dermis_. If we study a section of skin from the shank region of a fowl we find the outer portion is differentiated into two distinct regions, the rete Malpighii and the stratum corneum. The _stratum corneum_ is the outer horny layer. The cells making up this portion are fusiform, flattened, and in regular rows. The nuclei in these layers of cells are not pronouncedly visible, and the outline of the cells not clear in a section such as used in our ordinary methods of study. The corneum is a compact mass of remnant cells which have lost the appearance and their texture of living cells. It thus becomes modified into scales upon the skin surface. Between the stratum corneum and the stratum Malpighii there is another zone which consists of the cells undergoing a transitional stage from a cubical shape to a more flattened appearance, and gradually becoming more granular and hyaline.