46 THE STOMACH. 



This portion of the digestive organs is the most capacious in 

 what is called the gallinaceous or poultry tribe, which feed 

 chiefly on grain, requiring much softening ; and there, accord- 

 ingly, 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 quit- 

 ting it about the middle. Its texture is very fine and thin ; 

 so much so 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 Kingfisher, it is actually 

 wanting ; whereas in the Ostrich it considerably exceeds even 

 the real stomach, being capable 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 in the thermometer to about 95 or 96 

 degrees, the true blood-heat being 98 ; but if the same thermo- 

 meter 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 no or in; and no doubt, if tried on 

 certain other birds, requiring additional warmth, it would be 



