MX) LEAYES FKOM THE 



feeii the l)nxHi, the crc>p of the young pigeons when exa- 

 mineii will be discovered to contain the same kind of 

 cui\lle<i substance as that of the old ones, which pisses 

 from thence into the stomach, where it is to be digesteii.' 

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

 after all. But see how Wautifully this dispensation is 

 orviereil, accorvling to the exigences of the nestling :— 



The youHg pigt^n is feil for a little time with this suhstamv 

 only, as about the thinl day some of the eommon foo<l is fouml 

 miugled with it : as the pigeon grows older, the pro[K>rtion of 

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

 or nine days old. the secretion of the cnrvl ceases in the old ones, 

 and of cimrse no more will be fonnd m the cn.)p of the young. It 

 is a cnrious fact, that the j>arent pigeon has at tirst a }H>wer to 

 throw np this curvl without any mixtnre of common foo<l, although, 

 afterwanls, both are thrown np. accv>rding to the pmjHirtion 

 reqnired for the yonng ones. 



I have calle^l this substance curvl, not as bcaug literally so, but 

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

 have a greater resemblance to cnnl than we are jierhajvs aware of. 

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

 press^i. seems to contain any sugar, ami do not run into the 

 acetons fermentation. The pn.>j)erty of cvwgulating is contiueil to 

 the substance itself, as it produces no such effect when mixetl with 

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

 stances, becv>mes putriil by slamling. though not so rt^adilv as 

 either blootl or meat, it resisting putrefaction for a considerable 

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

 either blooil or meat.* 



Those who would wish to examine this phivnomenon 

 more closely will find preparations of the pigeon's crop 

 in that noble museiim,+ which is John Hunter's best 

 mommient. No yoimg birds are in so forlorn a state as 



* AminMit (EeQm&c»yy etlite^l by Professor Owen. Longman 

 and Co. 



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

 renderetl doubly valuable by the learutnl and elaborate Catalogue 

 by Professor Owen, in o vols. 4lo. The preparations aie numbered 

 Cir^r to 3741, both inclusive. 



