THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 107 



animal secretion ; but it does not appear that this fact has been estab- 

 lished to the satisfaction of the ph^'siological chemist.* 



It is not easy to explain the structure of the stomach without draw- 

 ings, and it must suffice to say that, according to Sir Everard Home, 

 it consists, like that of other ruminants, of" fonr cavities. The first of 

 these performs tne functions of both the first and second in the horned 

 ruminants ; the second is simply a receptacle for water ; the use of the 

 third is not ascertained ; and tlie office of the fourth is the same as that 

 of the corresponding stomach in other animals having four gastric 

 caviiies.t 



Thus by means of the nutriment supplied by the absorption of the 

 hump, and the fluid preserved in, and, perhaps, also secreted by, the 

 water-sack, the camel is able to travel several days without any new 

 supplies of food or water. The period of abstinence depends upon 

 the breed, training, and habits of the particular animal, the season and 

 temperature, and the amount of labor demanded of him. 



With respect to food, there is no doubt that the camel often endures 

 two, three,! and even more days of entire privation ; but long absti- 

 nence is seldom necessary, because, although there is one well attested 

 instance of the existence of a tract of desert frequently crossed by 

 caravans, six days' journey in width, and absolutely without a particle 

 of vegetation, <^ yet there are few portions of the Libyan or Arabian 

 deserts where more or less of the shrubs on which the camel feeds do 

 not occur at very much shorter intervals. 



According to Denliam, the African camel is prepared for long jour- 

 neys by having balls of dough crammed down his throat, while, on the 

 contrar}'. Father Hue, a much less reliable authority, declares that the 

 Bactrian is hardened by several days of previous abstinence. Under 

 ordinary circumstances, the camel is not fed at all, even on very long 

 journeys, but is left to snatch his food as he can during the march of 

 the caravan, or gather it more leisurely while it halts. In a journey of 

 seven weeks which I made with these animals in Arabia Petrte in the 

 months of May and June, but a single camel of the caravan received 

 any food from his driver. This was a fine large animal bred by the 

 Ababdeh Arabs, which was fed every evening with from a pint to a 

 quart of beans. 



When herbage and browse are altogether wanting, a small quantity 

 of beans, a few handfulls of dates or even date-stones, a ball or two of 

 dough of barley-meal, millet, or other grain, weighing from one to three 

 pounds, or a small supply of some dry vegetable are given each camel 

 daily. According to Edrisi, they are sometimes fed with dried fish. 

 Denham says they are fond of bones, and Riley even declares that he 

 sometimes saw them fed with charcoal. The favorite food of the camel 

 consists of the leaves, branches, and seed-pods of the acacias and other 

 prickly trees or shrubs, of thistles, and of the saline plants so common 



* According to Carbuccia, the fluid in the water-sack remains undamaged and drinkable 

 several days after the death of the camel. — Du Dromadaire, 12. 



t The gall bladder is wanting in the camel, and no trace of the biliary secretion has been 

 found upon dissection. — Plinii Hist. Nat. XI, 74 ; Carbuccia, 103. 



I Carbuccia, 10. 



§ Denham and Clapperton, I, c. 3. 



