Feather These barbules have minute hooks called barbicels for cross-attachment. Down feathers are fluffy because they lack barbicels, so the barbules float free of each other, allowing the down to trap air and provide excellent thermal insulation. At the base of the feather, the rachis expands to form the hollow tubular "calamus" (or quill) which inserts into a follicle in the skin. The basal part of the calamus is without vanes. This part is embedded within the skin follicle and has an opening at the base (proximal umbilicus) and a small opening on the side (distal umbilicus). Hatchling birds of some
Calamus, Iowa Journal, associated himself with Mr. Barter and the paper was continued under the name of Barter and Sunderlin. It did not have a very long existence and for various reasons it suspended publication. Whip and Cook printed a newspaper here in the 1880s. It also had a very brief existence. The Calamus Record was the latest newspaper venture for Calamus. It was established in 1901 by A.J. Gault and enjoyed a longer existence than the other newspapers. Calamus is located at (41.826669, -90.759793). Olive Township, Clinton County, Iowa According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total