38 



ADJUTANT BIRD. 



only iu order to the proper understanding of the ana- 

 tomy and physiology ot'uiiimals, but to that of some of 

 the most curious parts of their economy in the state 

 of nature, and some of their most valuable domestic 

 uses. In various animals it is variously disposed, and 

 endowed with different degrees of power in deposit- 

 ing or secreting fatty matter ; but in general it is 

 found under the skin, accompanying the muscles on 

 their general surfaces, and also on those of their fas- 

 ciculi or bundles of fibres, and also covering much of 

 the internal parts, whether their textures be muscular 

 or not. In many instances it appears to pervade the 

 bones, and to produce marrow in the larger tubes, and 

 fatty or oily matter in the more minute cells ; and the 

 same surfaces by which it is secreted, or, at all events, 

 deposited, appear to have the powers of absorbing it 

 again, even from the bones of the animals, when, from 

 any cause, that becomes necessary for the preservation 

 of their existence. " Thy bones are marrowless ;" 

 this applies not only to the supposed " ghost," but to 

 that state of emaciation, not inaptly termed " ghost- 

 like," to which the bodies of men and other animals are 

 sometimes reduced, by disease or otherwise. The 

 walls of the cells of this tissue are membranous, 

 and do not, rn any instance, appear to have the power 

 of muscular contraction. It does not appear to invest 

 directly any part of the nervous system, neither does 

 it appear to contain any nervous fibres in itself; at 

 least it can be distended, and even divided, without any 

 painful feeling. The distension of which it admits is 

 often very great ; and the quantity of fat accumulated 

 bears so great a proportion to the membranous matter 

 in which it is contained, that the whole accumula- 

 tion has the appearance of being an uninterrupted 

 mass of fat ; but such is not the case ; for, upon burn- 

 ing a portion of the fat of any animal, the peculiar 

 smell of animal matter is invariably given out, unless 

 that fat has been previously freed from every portion 

 of the cellular tissue, by some process of clarification 

 or fining ; not only so, but the entire fat of any species 

 of animal gives out, when burned, the peculiar odour 

 of the burning flesh of that animal, if it has such an 

 odour, as any one may observe by comparing the 

 smell of whale oil and of candles made from the fat 

 of different animals in the unrefined state. When, 

 however, the adipose tissue is wholly removed, no 

 auimal odour is given out in burning the pure fat ; so 

 that the fat cannot in itself be considered as an or- 

 ganised animal substance, but merely as one in a state 

 of preparation ; bearing some analogy to the pulp of 

 fruits, the albumen of seeds, the substance in the 

 thickened hybernacula of buds and roots, and par- 

 tially also to the parenchyma or pulp in the cells of 

 succulent leaves. As it is different both from the 

 portion of the food of animals which is supposed to 

 be taken directly into the system by absorption, and 

 to that which is assimilated as chyle, it must be con- 

 sidered as the result of some sort of secretion ; but as 

 it wants the proper indication of animal matter strictly 

 so called, it must be regarded as the product of a 

 first secretion, to which a second must succeed before 

 the matter secreted by the cells of this tissue can 

 form part of what may be regarded as the working 

 structures in the animal system. It would of course 

 be inaccurate to call any one part of an animal the 

 vegetable part; but the function performed by this 

 tissue appears to be somewhat analagous to the func- 

 tions performed by the cellular tissues of vegetables, 

 if not in product, at least in manner of action. 



The varieties of action and their results arc so dif- 

 ferent in the adipose tissues of different animals, are 

 so many, and some of them are so very important 

 both to the capturer of wild animals and to the culti- 

 vator of domestic ones, that they cannot be brought 

 within the compass of a single article. Some of them 

 will be found treated of under the article FAT, and 

 the references from that article ; others w ill be found 

 in the descriptions of the genera or species. 



ADJUTANT BIRD. The popular English name 

 of several tropical birds of large size, of very peculiar 

 shape, and, generally speaking, familiar manners. 

 They belong to the order GrallUl(E, and the genus Ci- 

 conia, and are in fact storks, resembling in their 

 manners the common storks, which are far from rare 

 in Holland and other parts of the Continent ; and these 

 live in the towns, perch on the house-tops, and breed 

 in boxes placed tor their accommodation ; but the 

 European species retire to more tropical latitudes in 

 the winter, and the whole genus are migratory. 



Though classed as wading birds, the storks generally, 

 and the adjutant birds in particular, do not find the 

 greater part of their food immediately in the waters, 

 but rather upon those places of the land from which 

 the water has retired, though they prefer marshy 

 situations, migrate from places which become dry 

 and parched, and return with the rainy season. 



The use of these birds in tropical countries, where 

 the alternations of drought and humidity are in extremes, 

 is very great ; and thus they form a characteristic as 

 well as a peculiar feature of those countries. They 

 are voracious feeders, and so daring in their habits, 

 that though they do not exactly take the prey out of 

 the lion's mouth, they seize it in the immediate vicinity 

 of any animal, even of man himself. They feed upon 

 reptiles, fishes, small quadrupeds, occasionally birds, 

 and, in general, all manner of offal and animal sub- 

 tances; but they do not attack and kill any large 

 animals of the warm-blooded classes. 



When the drought sets in, and reptiles either perish 

 or betake themselves to the earth, in which many ofthem 

 pass that, season in a state of torpor or inactivity, the 

 adjutants quit the country, migrating to other parts 

 of the world, if there are not places adapted for them 

 within the range of the country, or otherwise resorting 

 to the lower banks and embouchures of large rtVers, 

 and the mud flats which are usually found in such 

 places. There they appear in flocks, after the habit 

 of many of our British birds, which resort to the 

 shores when the state of the weather drives them 

 from the interior; and, while they remain in these 

 places, they feed chiefly upon the young of crocodiles, 

 alligators, turtles, ana other large aquatic reptiles, 

 which deposit their eggs in the banks to be hatched 

 by the heat of the sun. In tropical countries the 

 season of drought is the winter or sterile season on 

 land ; but it is the time at which the shores of the sea 

 are more than usually productive, as those parts from 

 which the water partially retires act as hot-beds; 

 and, in the time of the dew towards evening, there^is 

 an absolute rush of living creatures from their birth- 

 places in the mud to their future abode in the water. 

 At the same time the mature ones come on shore to 

 deposit their eggs. Thus, while the land is barren, 

 these large birds feed chiefly on the margins of the 

 waters ; and when the rain sets in, or rather a little 

 before it, they resort to the interior. They are found 

 in the tropical parts of Asia, Africa, and America, 

 though with some specific differences. 



