400 LEAVES FROM THE 



feed the brood, the crop of the young pigeons when exa- 

 mined will be discovered to contain the same kind of 

 curdled substance as that of the old ones, which passes 

 from thence into the stomach, where it is to be digested/ 

 The joke about 'pigeon's milk' is not so gi-oundless, 

 after all. But see how beautifully this dispensation is 

 ordered, according to the exigences of the nestling : — 



The young pigeon is fed for a little time with this substance 

 only, as about the thu-d day some of the common food is found 

 mingled ^ith it : as the pigeon grows older, the proportion of 

 common food is increased ; so that by the time it is seven, eight, 

 or nine days old, the secretion of the curd ceases in the old ones, 

 and of course no more will be found in the crop of the young. It 

 is a curious fact, that the parent pigeon has at first a power to 

 throw up this curd without any mixture of common food, although, 

 afterwards, both are thrown up, according to the proportion 

 required for the young ones. 



I have called this substance curd, not as being literally so, but 

 as resembling that more than anything I know ; it may, however, 

 have a greater resemblance to curd than we are perhaps aware of, 

 for neither this secretion, nor curd, from which the whey has been 

 pressed, seems to contain any sugar, and do not run into the 

 acetous fermentation. The property of coagulating is confined to 

 the substance itself, as it produces no such eff'ect when mixed with 

 milk. This secretion in the pigeon, like all other animal sub- 

 stances, becomes putrid by standing, though not so readily as 

 either blood or meat, it resisting putrefaction for a considerable 

 time ; neither will curd much pressed become putrid so soon as 

 either blood or meat.* 



Those who would wish to examine this phaenomenon 

 more closely will find preparations of the pigeon's crop 

 in that noble museum, -|- which is John Hunter's best 

 monument. No young birds are in so forlorn a state as 



* Animal (Economy, edited by Professor Owen. Longman 

 and Co. 



t The museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 

 rendered doubly valuable by the learned and elaborate Catalogue 

 by Professor Owen, in 5 vols. 4to. The preparations are numbered 

 3737 to 3741, both inclusive. 



