300 THE LLAMA. 



jaw. 3. The stomachs of the camel and the Llama are, in 

 some degree, similarly constructed. Father Feuillee has de- 

 scribed the stomach of the Llama ; and maintains that it has 

 not only a large reservoir for carrying water, but that, like 

 the stomach of the camel, it has the same machinery for 

 allowing the separation of solid from liquid aliment. Sir 

 Everard Home, however, describes this portion of the Llama's 

 stomach as only partially resembling that of the camel. He 

 says, " the stomach has a portion of it, as it were, intended 

 to resemble the reservoirs for water in the camel ; but these 

 have no depths, are only superficial cells, and have no mus- 

 cular apparatus to close their mouths ; and allow the solid 

 food to pass into the fourth cavity, or truly digesting stomach, 

 without going into these cells." But that the Llama has an 

 internal mechanism for retaining water, or secreting a liquid 

 substance, is certain for, on the summit of the Andes, they 

 are far above any lakes ; and it has been observed that, in a 

 state of domestication, they never exhibit a desire to drink 

 whilst they can obtain green pasture. 4. The Llama, accord- 

 ing to Molina, has a conformation resembling the camel's 

 hump, being provided with an excess of nutritive matter, 

 which lies in a thick bed of fat under the skin, and is absorb- 

 ed as a compensation for an occasional want of food. These 

 remarkable similarities certainly warrant naturalists in class- 

 ing the camel and the Llama in the same genus, although 

 they differ both in size and form. They are each evidently 

 fitted by nature for the endurance of great hardships and 

 privations the one amidst the sands of the desert, under a 

 burning sun the other on the wastes of some of the loftiest 

 mountains of the world, with a region of perpetual snow 

 above them. The slight variations in their conformation, 

 such as that of the foot, are modifications of nature which fit 

 them for their respective localities. A habitation among the 

 rocks would be mechanically impossible for the camel ; whilst 

 the burning plains would be as little suited to the Llama. 

 But each is adapted to exist in a very arid and sterile region ; 

 and their habits are created by their peculiar organization." 



