STRUCTURAL PECULIARITIES AND ANATOMICAL NOTES 31 



in both sexes the flap may supply its own secretion,, 

 and water regurgitated from the storage cells of the 

 stomach to the extended surface of the pharynx and 

 root of tongue so as to allay the feeling of thirst.' 



I am altogether inclined to this latter opinion. The 

 nature of this organ is unknown at all events, appears 

 to be extremely doubtful as here we have two au- 

 thorities expressing themselves adversely ; and yet it 

 must be acknowledged that Nature designed it for some 

 rational purpose, and that all Nature's handiwork is 

 purely and exquisitely practical no one will deny. It 

 seems likely, therefore, that the use for which it is in- 

 tended is, as Professor Owen's investigations demon- 

 strate, to allay a special feeling of thirst. I know that 

 I have seen camels in the desert, that if they were in a 

 state of ' mast ' were too exhausted to show it, some 

 two or three days subsequent to the last watering pro- 

 duce this organ frequently during a few hours, and it 

 always seemed to me that they were apparently rinsing 

 out their mouths and moistening them. 



And now we come to that portion of the camel's stomach 

 internal arrangements which for so long seemed to 

 remain a mystery, simply through lack of scientific 

 investigation, and the proper construction of which, 

 even at the present day, is as little known among the 

 masses as is that of the planets and great constellations 

 in the firmament above us. We need not discuss the 

 reason ; we will do so later on in its proper place. 



The camel, like all other ruminants, is said to have 

 four stomachs ; but in a strict sense there is only one 

 organ, which occupies a considerable portion of the 

 abdomen, and which is partitioned off internally into 



