Rachis Rachis Rachis is a biological term for a main axis or "shaft" (from the Greek "ράχις, backbone, spine"). In vertebrates a "rachis" can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the "rachis" usually forms the supporting axis of the body and is then called the spine or vertebral column. "Rachis" can also mean the central shaft of pennaceous feathers. In the gonad of the invertebrate nematode "C. elegans", a "rachis" is the central cell-free core or axis of the gonadal arm of both adult males and hermaphrodites where the germ cells have
The Bird in a Cage The Bird in a Cage The Bird in a Cage, or The Beauties is a Caroline era comedy written by James Shirley, first published in 1633. The play is notable, even among Shirley's plays, for its lushness — what one critic has called "gay romanticism run mad." The play was licensed for performance, under the title "The Beauties," by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 21 January 1633. It was published in quarto in the same year, printed by B. Alsop and T. Fawcet for the bookseller William Cooke. The title page of the 1633 quarto states