384 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



I shall at some future period give an exact account of the ex 

 pense of distillation, price of machinery, &c. I should be happy 

 to have the experience of farmers and agriculturists, and if they 

 Avill favor me with a call at my office, No. 15 John-street, they 

 may see and taste samples, the results of my limited experiments. 



Mr. Disturnell read his paper on the subject of the Camel foi 

 America, that subject being now taken up by order of the Club. 



THE CAMEL INDIGEi\OUS TO ARAEIA. 



Aral)ia is the original country of the horse, the camel and the 

 wild ass. There is also a race of oxen in Arabia with a hump 

 on their back like those of Syria. Rock goats inhabit the hills 

 of Arabia Petraea, and the plains are stocked with gazelles. 

 These imimals may be considered indigenous to this jjart of 

 Asia. 



But amongst the animal productions of Arabia, the horse and 

 the camel hold deservedly the first rank. Of the former the 

 different breeds have multiplied almost beyond the power of 

 enumeration, every tribe having carefully preserved the genealogy 

 of its horses and mares. All these breeds, however, may be re- 

 duced to five difierent sources, which have originated as many 

 races. It is in the great deserts of Nejed that the best breed are 

 reared. So much is the Nejed breed valued that a poor Arab at 

 Antioch was known to refuse 36,000 piastres for a blood mare of 

 that species. The Arabs give the preference to mares, and the 

 dam, not the sire, determines the nobility of the individual ani- 

 mals among them. The power of enduring fatigue and hunger 

 by these animals is astonishing. 



The camel, however, is the most serviceable animal of Arabia, 

 for without it the Arab could not cross the expanses of sand with 

 which his country is covered. Its hoof is formed to tread over 

 burning sands, it is patient of thirst, and the cartilaginous texture 

 of its mouth enables it to feed on the hard and prickly plants of 

 the desert Its milk is copious, and the flesh of its young tender, 

 its dung supplies the deficiency of fuel, and its hair is manu- 

 factured into garments. In general the camel has a clean, sleek 

 coat, usually of a light brown color, with a fringe of dark hair 

 along the neck, but the covering in the Arabian or Desert camel 

 is less profuse than in that of upper Asia, where the climate re- 

 quires a warmer coat. The eye of the camel is large, dark, soft 

 and prominent, resembling that of the gazelle, and it retains 

 brilliancy, under the fiercest glare of the sun and sand. 



