^otf s on il^t Maler-alls of tl^e 



By G. MUNRO smith, L.R.C.P. Lend., M.R.C.S. 



Abstract of Paper read Jan. 3rdj 1889. 



SINCE the time when Abraham's servant made his- 

 camels kneel down at the end of their day's journey^, 

 outside the city of Haran, every record of these animals 

 speaks of them as being in a state of servitude. For thou- 

 sands of years they have been the " beneficent ships of the 

 desert," travelling with little food and less water over hot 

 and dry sandy regions. We should, therefore, expect them 

 to be specially qualified for this kind of work, and that their 

 natural qualifications would be improved by long custom.. 

 We find the former, at all events, to be the case ; their feet 

 are broad and well-fitted for walking on shifting ground. 

 They are wonderfully hardy, bearing fatigue well, and 

 requiring only the commonest vegetable food ; their eyes- 

 are protected by the prominent overhanging eyebrows from 

 the glare of the sun ; they have in their humps a store of 

 fat which they can use as a reserve fund during their en- 

 forced periods of abstinence ; and they have, as the specimen 



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