390 



ON THE 



But the most curious provision in the Camel, is 

 in its being furnished, contrary to the other rumi- 

 nating animals, with a fifth stomach, by which it 

 is enabled to retain a large proportion of water 

 for future use upon those emergencies, when a 

 scarcity of that most esseniial fluid, forms one of 

 the leading incidents of an African Journey over 

 the Desart. 



This consists of a series of cellular bags, often 

 amounting to thirty, which are formed between 

 the first and second stomachs, each capable of 

 containing a certain quantity of water, which, by 

 muscular action, can be regurgitated at the plea- 

 sure of the animal, so as for several days together 

 to relieve the mouth and throat from that intense 

 thirst, which the climate and fatigues of the jour- 

 ney never fail to create; and this confers on the 

 Camel an additional means of performing jour- 

 nies, , which other animals could not undergo, 

 without almost a certain prospect of their des- 

 truction. 



Thus, in investigating the works of nature, we 

 are not to allow the imagination to supercede 

 our deeper judgment; since there is not the mi- 

 nutest portion of an animal, or even of a vege- 

 table, however unaccountable it may appear to 

 us at first sight, that will not upon a closer exami- 

 nation, be found to have a most useful tendency; 

 and convince us, that the gratification of the 

 eve, however no doubt partly intended to harmon- 



