298 UNGULATA 



" If docile means stupid, well and good; in such a case the Camel is 

 the very model of docility. But if the epithet is intended to designate 

 an animal that takes an interest in its rider so far as a beast can, that 

 in some way understands his intentions, or shares them in a sub- 

 ordinate fashion, that obeys from a sort of submissive or half-fellow- 

 feeling with his master, like the horse or elephant, then I say that 

 the camel is by no means docile very much the contrary. He 

 takes no heed of his rider, pays no attention whether he be on his 

 back or not, walks straight on when once set agoing, merely 

 because he is too stupid to turn aside, and then should some 

 tempting thorn or green branch allure him out of the path, continues 

 to walk on in the new direction simply because he is too dull to turn 

 back into the right road. In a word, he is from first to last an 

 undomesticated and savage animal, rendered serviceable by stupidity 

 alone, without much skill on his master's part, or any co-operation 

 on his own save that of an extreme passiveness. Neither attach- 

 ment nor even habit impress him ; never tame, though not wide- 

 awake enough to be exactly wild." The two species breed together 

 freely, and among the Yourouks of Asia Minor, hybrids, or mules, 

 the produce generally of a male Bactrian and a female Arabian 

 camel are preferred to either of the pure breeds. 



Fossil remains of Camels are found in the Pliocene of the 

 Siwalik Hills in Northern India. These differ from the existing 

 representatives of the genus in having a vertical ridge at the 

 antero-external angle of the lower molars, whereby they resemble 

 Auchenia ; their cervical vertebrae are also intermediate in structure 

 between those of the latter and the existing Camels. A fossil 

 Camel is also found in the Pleistocene of Algeria. 



Auchenia. 1 Dentition of adults normally : i J, c y, p f , m f ; 

 total 32 one of the lower premolars may, however, be wanting. In 

 the upper jaw there is a compressed, sharp, pointed laniariform incisor 

 near the hinder edge of the premaxilla, followed, in the male at least, 

 by a moderate-sized, pointed, curved true canine in the anterior part 

 of the maxilla. The isolated canine-like premolar which follows in 

 the Camels is not present. The teeth of the molar series, which are 

 in contact with each other, consist of two very small premolars (the 

 first almost rudimentary) and three broad molars, constructed gener- 

 ally like those of Camelus. In the lower jaw the three incisors are 

 long, spatulate, and procumbent ; the outer ones being the smallest. 

 Next to these is a curved, suberect canine, followed after an interval 

 by an isolated, minute, and often deciduous simple conical premolar ; 

 then a contiguous series of one premolar and three molars, which 

 differ from those of existing species of Camelus in having a small 

 accessory column at the anterior outer edge. The skull generally 

 resembles that of Camelus, the relatively larger brain-cavity and 

 1 Illiger, Prodromus Syst. Mamm. p. 103 (1811). 



