PIGEON'S MILK. 363 



pigeons has been discovered in the female Croco- 

 dile. If the fact be correctly stated, it is well 

 worthy of further enquiry, because it may possibly 

 turn out to be common to other reptiles, and ac- 

 cordingly explain some of the habits of these 

 curious beings, which have hitherto puzzled all 

 naturalists. For instance, some anatomist should 

 examine the structure of the stomach and gullet of 

 the breeding viper, and tell us whether it be really 

 nothing more than for the purpose of hiding, and 

 protection from injury, that the young of this rep- 

 tile is wont to take refuge in the throat of the 

 dam ? At all events, until Mr. Hunter's observa- 

 tions on the pigeon, it was always supposed that 

 nothing like lactation was known except among 

 warm-blooded quadrupeds. He has shewn that 

 the old popular saying about "pigeon's milk/' 

 which was a sort of April fool's errand, had some 

 foundation for it, and proves that a degree of truth 

 generally lurks in the adages of our ancestors. It 

 may also possibly turn out, that whatever horror 

 people have of "" crocodile's tears," it may, perhaps, 

 be ascertained that this detested reptile secretes 

 the bland milk for its tender young. At all events, 

 if it really be a fact, it is one singularly curious and 

 interesting. 



Those who may feel inclined to enter more fully 

 into this subject are referred to Tiedemann (Ana- 

 tomic und Natur. der Vogel, 1808), Meckel (Ver- 



