268 



DIURNAL VARIATIONS IN THE TEMPERATURES 

 OF CAMELS. 



By J. Burton Clelaxd, M.D., Cli.M.(Syd.). 



In October, 1907, I had the opportunity of taking the temper- 

 atures, on various occasions, of a certain number of 500 camels 

 recently imported from India, and quarantined in the north-west 

 of Western Australia, on an open spinifex {Triodia) plain. The 

 days were usually hot (of ten over 100°F. in the shade), and the 

 nights decidedly cool. The results, though comparatively few, 

 seem to indicate that the camel resembles, to some extent, cold- 

 blooded animals such as reptiles, inasmuch as there is a wide 

 range of temperature, varying with external conditions, the 

 oscillations sometimes being as much as nearly 8°r. 



The low temperatures, it will be noted, occurred, as was to be 

 expected, in the morning, and they only gradually rose as the 

 day became warmer. Further, the animals, before these temper- 

 atures (always rectal) were taken, were often restless and eager to 

 be off in search of food, and had not necessarily just awakened 

 from sleep. The subnormal temperature would appear to be due 

 to the coolness of the morning, the lack of active exercise wiih 

 its metabolism, and perhaps also to the completion of rumination 

 some time previously. 



The higher temperatures found in the evening, after hot days, 

 are perhaps to be attributed, in great measure, to the fact that 

 camels visibly " perspire " only over a small area on the back of 



