26 THE CAMEL 



ondition that only extra good food and moderate 

 work, and not short, scanty rations and extra work, 

 will produce. And where is this suppty to come from 

 unless you carry extra rations ; and when is this 

 ever done? Even should he be fed fairly well and 

 regularly, the increased exertion and work that the 

 poor brute is called upon to do, invariably without 

 any corresponding increase in his food, counterbalances 

 the good effect of the food. The camel himself requires 

 every bit of the food he eats to sustain, and so enable 

 him to meet the increased tax on his strength. In a 

 few words, the demand of work being greater than the 

 supply of food, what earthly chance has the hump of 

 keeping its reserve up to the mark ? And it stands to 

 reason that the camel is incapable of increased exertion 

 on its hump alone, no matter how well nourished it 

 might be. 



The skin But the hump is not the only feature by which you 



can judge of a camel's condition. The skin, conse- 

 quently the hair, is, if anything, as good, if not a more 

 infallible sign, as I will endeavour to explain. 



Deficiency V. S. Steel says c that the skin when placed under 



in perspi- 9 



ratory a powerful microscope has been found to be deficient 

 in perspiratory follicles and ducts.' That this to a 

 certain if not great extent accounts for his extreme 

 liability to mange and other skin diseases, I think is 

 more than likely. A stinted action of the skin must of 

 necessity lead to internal complications, and a free, 

 continuous action is a necessity to preserve condition. 

 That dry food, insufficiency of water, overwork, &c., 

 conduce to aggravate such complications and produce 

 actual disorder among the digestive organs the mere 



