THE STOMACH. 
59 
concluded that the stomach became more and more 
fitted to economize the food, as the country to which 
the bird belongs became less fertile, or less able to 
provide the requisite supply. In some cases, where 
the gizzard is imperfect, and is unfitted to act the 
part of a grinder, the bird is led by instinct to pro- 
vide itself with a singular substitute. 
We have alluded to the strange matters found in 
the stomach of the Ostrich which died in this 
country. Now, the reason why these birds and 
some others, such as the Emu and Cassowary, 
which move over the ground by running instead of 
flying, swallow such strange hard substances, is this : 
their digestive organs are, generally speaking, weak ; 
accordingly, their well-known propensity for swal- 
lowing glass, iron, and other such substances, is an 
instinctive remedy for this deficiency, which is 
further assisted by their habits of running ; this 
motion producing such an increased shaking or rub- 
bing together between these hard substances which 
they swallow, and their natural food, as to render 
the strong action of a gizzard in a great degree use- 
less. Those who take an interest in poultry are 
aware that they are in the constant habit of picking 
up small stones. Many persons consider this as an 
accidental occurrence ; hut it is by no means so: they 
do it like the Ostrich, for the purpose of assisting 
the powers of the gizzard in grinding the shells and 
outer coats of the grains, so as to render them fit for 
final digestion. In the stomach of a Turkey-hen, 
nearly one hundred stones have been counted, and in 
that of a Goose, a still larger number ; hut these are 
nothing to the extraordinary contents of a common 
