338 



BRANCH CHORDATA 



which the large nostrils may be closed against the simoons of the desert; 

 and by their prominent eyes and heavy, overhanging eyelids. The hump 

 is a real and acknowledged reservoir of nutriment stored up during" moist 

 seasons, as well as nature's pack saddle for the commerce of the ages.^ 

 For centuries the camel has been the means of transportation over the desert. 

 Papyrus records show it was well known in Egypt at least thirty-two 

 centuries ago. Yet in all these centuries "little of sympathetic association 

 has been gained between beast and master." Owing to its viciousness and 

 stupidity it has been subjugated rather than domesticated. However, it 

 has been developed into many serviceable forms, some swift and elegant, 

 others strong and ugly. 



There are two distinct species of camels, the Bactrian or two-humped 

 camel {Came'lus hactrian.m) and the one-humped species ((*. dromedarius) 

 (Fig. 275). The two species will interbreed it is said, and it is not probable 

 that either is now found in a genuinely wild state. The camel is a thickly 

 built, ungainly pack horse. The dromedary is the finer-haired, light-step- 



Fig. 274. — a, Water-cells in the paunch of the camel; h, foot, showing 

 the pad. (From Holder's " Elements of Zoology," American Book Co., 

 Publishers.) 



ping race horse. The former travels three miles in an hour and six hours 

 in a day, while the latter can run seventy miles a day. The latter is several 

 times the value of the former. The single calf is weaned when about a year 

 old, but it is not fitted for service until five years old. ' We are accustomed to 

 think of camels as associated with heated countries alone, but the Bactrian 

 camel can endure much cold, and carry on the overland trade between China 

 and Russia across the plains of Mongolia or Turkestan amid the snows of 

 winter and the dust of summer. Every spring the camel loses every frag- 

 ment of its hair and for about twenty days it is as naked as if clean shaven, 

 and is then sensitive to cold and raiii. When the hair, which is at first fine 

 and beautiful, becomes long and thick it can brave the severest frost. Its 

 strong, elastic, lustrous hair is woven into warm cloth. The Andean vicu- 

 nia has finer, soft, curly wool. The Arabian depends upon the camel for 

 many things: "fuel, milk, hair for tents, ropes, shawls, and coarser fabrics; 

 and flesh, leather, and bones from the dead animal. Camel's milk, though 



1 Ingersoll, p. 337. 



