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XX. On the different Structures and Situations of the Solvent 
Glands in the digestive Organs of Birds , according to the nature 
of their Food and particular Modes of Life. By Everard 
Home, Esq. F. R. S. 
Read June 18, 1812. 
rp 
1 he solvent glands in birds are larger and more distinct 
from the other parts of the digestive organs than in the class 
mammalia, which has enabled me to ascertain many circum- 
stances respecting their structure, not to be determined by 
examining the stomachs of quadrupeds. An account of these is 
contained in the present paper. 
To make the following descriptions more clear and distinct, 
I shall divide the digestive organs of birds, whether they live 
on animal or vegetable food, into four parts. The first, is the 
dilatation of the oesophagus, which forms a reservoir for the 
food, and which is called the crop. The second, is the part into 
which the ducts of the solvent glands open, which, I shall call 
the cardiac cavity. The third, is the cavity embraced by the 
digastric muscle, or gizzard. The fourth, is the space between 
the opening of the gizzard, and beginning of the duodenum, 
which I shall call the pyloric cavity, although in some 
instances it appears scarcely to deserve that name. 
The solvent glands in the whole of the extensive genus falco 
of Linnaeus, are cylindrical bodies with very small canals, a 
villous internal surface, and thick coats, open at one end, closed. 
