\ 
NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK—BAKER. ; 453 
Both have a peculiar series of cavities in the lining of the stomach, 
by means of which they retain from a gallon to a gallon and a half of 
water separate from the food; this enables them to go many days 
in the hottest climates without drinking, a peculiarity which makes 
this beast invaluable in the desert. The humps upon the back are 
another provision of nature by means of which the animal is assured 
of sustenance, being made up principally of lumps of fat that increase 
in size when the animal is well fed, and on which he draws when 
there is little or nothing to eat. The feet of the camel are very pe- 
culiar, being large, spongy pads adapted for traveling over sand. 
The small camel in plate 9 is of the Bactrian variety, and was 
born in the park. Bitimg and kicking him when he tried to nurse, 
his unnatural mother would have nothing to do with him, and it 
was necessary to put him in a separate yard and to bring him up by 
hand. The picture shows him when but 1 day old, nursing from a 
bottle held by the keeper. 
The Arabian camel exists in a wild state in Spain, and the Bactrian 
is found wild in certain parts of central Asia, but these have doubtless 
descended from animals that have escaped from domestication. 
Both species are exceedingly stupid animals, sometimes very ill- 
tempered and dangerous, inflicting savage bites with their powerful 
canine teeth. 
THE LLAMAS. 
In South America are found four representatives of a genus allied 
to the camel. These are the llama, the alpaca, the vicugna, and the 
guanaco. The first two are domesticated and the others wild. 
Specimens of each are owned by the park. These animals have a 
long neck, a large head, and long ears like the camel; but, as they 
have not the hump, they are much more graceful. 
All of these species live in temperate climates, usually upon the 
higher slopes of the Andes, but coming down to sea level in Pata- 
gonia. They do not thrive in humid regions and attempts to utilize 
them in other countries have usually failed. 
They all have the very unpleasant habit of spitting at visitors that 
stop to examine or pat them. 
The guanaco is now believed to be the true ancestor of these several 
stocks. It is found in considerable flocks on the higher mountains 
from Ecuador to Tierra del Fuego, and is very wild and wary. It is 
said that when about to die it seeks a spot commonly resorted to by 
the flock for a place of demise. 
The vicugna is smaller than the guanaco and is much more re- 
stricted in its range, being confined to Peru and Bolivia. Formerly 
the wild vicugnas and guanacos were rounded up annually by great 
numbers of Indians, then carefully sheared, and allowed to escape. 
From the wool thus obtained a fine and durable cloth was manu- 
