130 



THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA. 



behind the canine there comes a premolar, 

 which is shed sooner or later, and which also 

 resembles the canine in form. The diastema 

 occurs between this canine-shaped premolar 

 and the other cheek-teeth. The latter are 

 constructed according to the ordinary rumi- 

 nant type. As age advances some of the 

 molars are shed; we then find in the upper 

 jaw only five instead of six, in the lower only 

 four instead of six. The camels have no 

 horns. 



The family is composed of only two genera, 

 which are geographically separated by the 

 oceans; the camels proper belong to the Old 

 World, the llamas to South America. 



The Camels. 



The Camels (Camelus) are among the 

 largest of the ruminants, for they attain at 

 the shoulders a height of about 8*/ feet. 

 The head is very unshapely, the brow arched, 

 the mouth long, and broad at the end ; the 

 large upper lip is a little cloven in the middle 

 and protrudes beyond the pendent lower lip. 

 The broad movable nostrils are placed above 

 the mouth, but far from the end of the snout. 

 The large prominent eyes are not in the 

 least expressive; the ears are small; the back 

 of the head somewhat round, and occupied 

 near the back by two skin-glands, which, 

 especially in the breeding season, excrete a 

 fluid of a peculiarly disgusting smell. The 

 long neck is pretty stiff, and is flattened at 

 the sides; the body is short and thick; and 

 the dorsal ridge in the skeleton slopes some- 

 what backwards from the shoulders, but in 

 the living animal this is concealed by a large 

 hump or two humps of fat. The short thin 

 tail has a tuft at the end. The thick legs, 

 much swollen at the joints, appear as if they 

 were badly inserted in their sockets. They 

 end in broad padded soles which are round 

 behind and cloven in front, where the two 

 short triangular hoofs are placed. The hind- 

 limbs appear as if they were dislocated. 

 When the camel is resting it lays itself down 



exactly like a frog ready to spring. On the 

 fore-knees there are callous protuberances on 

 which the animal supports itself in lying 

 down. 



The rather long brain-case with curved 

 nasals has a strong ridge running along the 

 middle line, and connected behind with two 

 transverse side ridges in such a manner as 

 to inclose on each side a broad space in 

 which the strong temporal muscles are at- 

 tached. The dentition presents certain char- 

 acteristic marks. In the adult animal there 

 are in each half of the upper jaw three 

 canine-shaped teeth set close together; they 

 are all sharp- pointed, cutting, and a little 

 recurved. The first of these teeth, which is 

 set in the premaxillary bone, is an incisor; 

 the second, the largest of all, is the canine; 

 the third is the first premolar. A not very 

 large gap follows, and then comes the series 

 of cheek-teeth, the first two of which are 

 premolars with simple half- moon -shaped 

 lamellae, while the others are true molars 

 with lamellae placed in pairs. In the lower 

 jaw the relative situations of the different 

 sorts of teeth are the same. The three pairs 

 of incisors, which are rather prominent, are 

 placed at the end of the rather long narrow 

 jaw in a segment of a circle, and they are 

 immediately followed by strong recurved 

 canines, next to which come a pair of curved 

 premolars, which are flattened at the sides 

 and sharp. A wide interval separates this 

 series from the back -teeth, of which there 

 are only four on each side. 



The structure of the stomach is extremely 

 interesting. On the rather large paunch are 

 to be seen two large swellings, which con- 

 sist essentially of more than 800 large cells 

 arranged in parallel rows and separated by 

 membranous partitions, in which the muscular 

 tissue is so beautifully developed that it forms 

 true sphincters capable of closing the mouths 

 of the cells, which are more or less filled with 

 water. This considerable store of fluid in 

 the stomach, a store which the camel eagerly 



