ORDER RUMINANT I A. 39 



hunches on the back, we have nearly all the external cha. 

 racter of the Camel ; but exclusive of these, its body is 

 large, neck long and bent, ears short, eyes prominent and 

 dull, and legs disproportioned, long, and meagre ; exhibiting 

 altogether an assemblage so ugly and stupid, that it re- 

 quires all the partiality of Arabian eyes to perceive the pro- 

 priety of that image in their poetry, which compares a 

 young bride in her nuptial attire as " moving gracefully 

 like a young camel." These apparent disproportions are 

 however in reality only manifestations of that great will, 

 which adapts everything with wonderful precision to its 

 destined end: for in the hands of nature true disproportion 

 is nowhere to be found; and although we cannot at all 

 times point out the direct motive for given characters, yet 

 in the case before us several may be assigned with con- 

 fidence. 



Thus the particular structure of the teeth indicate a 

 predilection for food not obtained by grazing, but by 

 browsing on shrubs, leaves, and branches, which require 

 the action of powerful means to tear down and masti- 

 cate ; and although in Europe, or where fodder is plen- 

 tifully served, the animal will pick with care the very 

 best, we know that, in his native regions, he feeds on bitter 

 artemisia, thistles, mimosas, and other thorny trees and 

 shrubs, such as the guwasse, fyc. For this particular pur- 

 pose he is furnished with a divided upper lip, each sepa- 

 rately moveable and slightly extensile ; which he uses like 

 palpi to feel, examine, touch, and to turn the substances 

 into the mouth with great dexterity. 



The nostrils having the form of slits, open and close at 

 the will of the animal, and are admirably adapted to in- 

 hale the air, and exclude the acrid dust of the sandy de- 

 serts. To enable him to move with facility on a soft and 

 sinking surface, his feet are broad and cushion-shaped, 

 and his limbs long and elevated: he picks the thorny 



