48 THE STOMACH. 



cious in what is called the gallinaceous or poultry tribe, 

 which feed chiefly on grain, requiring much softening; 

 and there, accordingly, we find the food retained, till it 

 is sufficiently softened to pass onwards to the stomach. 

 And in this tribe it almost forms a distinct bag, as may 

 be easily seen on examining a fowl, the gullet opening 

 into it at the upper part, and quitting it about the 

 middle. Its texture is very fine and thin; so much sc* 

 that the craw of a full-sized Turkey will contain nearly 

 a quart, and when scraped and varnished, is sufficiently 

 light to form small air balloons, for which purpose they 

 are now prepared and sold in London. 



We next come to the part called the second stomach, 

 which, like the rest of the digestive organs, varies very 

 much in size, and internal arrangement. In some birds 

 it is extremely small; in certain cases, as in the King- 

 fisher, it is actually wanting; whereas in the Ostrich it 

 considerably exceeds even the real stomach, being ca- 

 pable of holding several pints of water. It is in this 

 cavity that the grand business or process of digestion is 

 carried on, it being abundantly supplied with a number 

 of glands or vessels secreting that very curious liquid, 

 called the gastric juice, which acts most powerfully on 

 every variety of food. They are called the solvent glands 

 on this account; and, as birds generally require a more 

 rapid digestion, they are larger, and more distinct from 

 the other organs of digestion, than in other animals. 



There may also be another reason why this liquid 

 may be more essentially necessary for birds, which seem 

 to require greater warmth than other animals, since it is 

 found that their blood circulates more rapidly, and is 

 warmer than the blood of the human body. For instance, 

 the heat of the human body will raise the mercury of a 

 thermometer to about 95 or 96 degrees, the true blood- 

 heat being 98; but if the same thermometer is placed 

 under the wing of a Parrot, or a Canary, it will raise it to 

 100 or 101; of a Fowl, to 103; of a Sparrow or Robin, 

 sometimes to 110 or 111; and no doubt, if tried on 



