WATEK-CELLS OF THE CAMEL'S STOMACH. 119 



shown illustrates, an arrangement by which water may be 

 stored up in their stomachs. 



This last peculiarity has, however, been denied. Pro- 

 fessor Macalister says : " The second stomach of the camel 

 has deep cells or compartments, which has given origin to 

 the fable about the capacity of camels to store water in 

 their stomachs." 



Professor Huxley, however, in his "Anatomy of Verte- 

 brated Animals," writes as follows : " The oesophagus opens 

 directly into the paunchy which is lined by a smooth, not 

 papillose epithelial coat. From its walls at least two sets 

 of diverticula with comparatively narrow mouths are devel- 

 oped. These, the so-called water-cells, serve to strain off 

 from the contents of the paunch and to retain in store a 

 considerable quantity of water.^^ This account seems quite 

 accurate ; it is the first, not the second, stomach which has 

 these cavities in its walls, and it is certainly not a fable that 

 water can be drained off into them. Whether they have 

 been developed in the process of evolution to fit the animal 

 for its long periods of drought, or whether they serve some 

 other purpose, I cannot say ; but the first hypothesis seems 

 to me quite reasonable. 



There is abundant evidence of the power of the camel to 

 go for a long time without water whilst doing hard work. 

 Pliny remarks that they can go four days together without 

 drink (without apparent suffering) ; Burckhardt and other 

 travellers also bear witness to this. 



Professor Owen, in his " Comparative Anatomy and 

 Physiology of Vertebrates," gives a clear description of these 

 cells, with a good illustration, and is of the opinion that 

 they can retain water, '* as in a reservoir, for some days." 



The specimen shown was taken from a camel that was 

 killed at the Zoological Gardens. The paunch was found 



