CAMELS. 277 



this that real digestion takes place ; all the previous 

 labour having been but a mere preparation for it, and 

 indicated by the name of the order, taken from a Latin 

 word, signifying 4 to chew over/ 



It would seem impossible for any animals to be more 

 useful to man than the dog or the horse. Yet these 

 Ruminantia are still more precious to him ; for while 

 they serve him as beasts of burden or transport, they 

 perform agricultural labours, and supply him generally 

 with a variety of food. Milk, butter, cheese ; the very 

 best meat ; the strongest, yet most delicate leather ; 

 that most valuable commodity, wool ; hair, horn, and a 

 long list of utilities, all proceeding from them ; while 

 the extreme beauty of many of the genera, and the 

 sport they afford, contribute to his mere pleasure, as 

 well as his comfort. 



The Camels and Dromedaries, which come first be- 

 fore me, are confined to a small portion of the earth's 

 surface. They, however, in their more confined sphere, 

 afford incalculable benefits. Without them we should 

 not be able to traverse those large plains of sand which 

 lie between the different countries of Africa, and also 

 of South- Western Asia. Their gaunt and angular form 

 does not class them among the beauties to which I 

 have alluded; and the only pretensions which their 

 outward appearance can present for praise, is their 

 admirable adaptation for the offices which they have 

 to perform. Their full upper lip is cleft ; their neck is 

 long, their eyes prominent and shaded with eyelashes ; 

 their nostrils are like slits, which they can close at 

 pleasure ; their body has one or two humps on it ; their 

 legs have callous pads upon them ; their feet are large 

 and spreading ; and their hair hangs loosely upon them 



