WATERING 143 



4. Like a dust or thunderstorm it clears the 

 system, cleansing and purging it of all impurities and 

 secretions which if allowed to remain would generate 

 disease. 



5. It is an animal's only drink, and quenches his 

 thirst effectually and naturally. 



6. 'It is the medium by which the waste material 

 of the body is carried away/ 



7. ' It bathes every tissue, and dissolves and re- 

 moves the products of tissue metamorphosis.' 



8. 'It renews the system daily, acting as a reju- 

 venant.' 



Taking all these points into consideration, it will be 

 seen that, even making every allowance for the abstain- 

 ing powers of a camel, water is really indispensable in 

 order to preserve his condition, and eventually his life, 

 and except on an emergency he ought not to be 

 stinted. 



It has also been stated that 'during the season, Young 

 when fresh pasture is abundant, camels can go for 

 weeks without water, provided they are not loaded or 

 required to make extraordinary exertions. The juices 

 of the plants which form their food are then sufficient to 

 quench their thirst.' Here the writer is evidently not 

 speaking from his Own personal knowledge, and though 

 he has got an inkling of the subject, he has either been 

 led away by the verbose eloquence of a traveller, or 

 has been carried away by his own vivid imagination. 

 It needs no deep thought or knowledge to arrive at 

 the fact that camels fed on green fodder require less 

 water than when getting dry food, and that the more 

 succulent the herbage, and the greater the moisture 



