CAMEL. 239 



which this comparison has been derived are not either so 

 perfect or so numerous as we could have wished, they are 

 stUl sufficiently so for every purpose of comparison ; and in 

 some cases we have been even struck with the remarkable 

 perfection of the fossil, considering its soft and, in many 

 cases, imperfectly indurated quality, added to the intimate 

 combination with, as well as adhesion to, the matrix, which 

 consists of a light-coloured clay with a small admixture of 

 sand. 



In recapitulation of our above remarks, therefore, we will 

 note that, independent of the peculiarities described as 

 existing in the cranium of the Camelus Sivalensis, upon which 

 pecuharities we rest its specific character, there must have 

 been others in its external form. These differences, how- 

 ever, could not have extended far ; its general character must 

 have borne a close affinity to that of the same animal of the 

 present day ; and although we have proofs of its size having 

 exceeded ovir existing Camel in a proportion equalling at least 

 one-seventh of its height, we are unfortunately ignorant of 

 the efi'ects that domestication may have caused in the 

 deterioration or otherwise of the Camelus dromedarius, 

 especially in a country and amongst a race of people who 

 pay little attention to its improvement, so long as the natural 

 increase is sufficient to supply their wants and add to their 

 comfort. The Camelus dromedarius, from which our com- 

 parison has been drawn, must not be confounded with the 

 Camelus Bactrianus, or Camel used by the Arabs. 



For the Camel in all its perfection we must seek the shores 

 of the Caspian, to the hordes and wandering tribes who from 

 generation to generation have looked upon this animal as 

 the only means by which they (iould exist — as the only means 

 by which communication could be maintained over oceans of 

 sand and miles of desert. If any care be given to the breed 

 of the Camel in its domestic state, we should expect to find it 

 in this quarter ; but among the people of India, who use the 

 animal merely as a beast of burthen, and carry on the breed 

 much in the same way as they do with their other domesti- 

 cated animals, we have no reason to expect any improvement. 

 In the Government stud we have no doubt that all feasible 

 means are exerted to improve the breed, or at least to prevent 

 deterioration, by maintaining a stock from the largest and 

 finest grown animals. It will be noted that one of the skulls 

 referred to in this paper is from the stud, and the person to 

 whom we are indebted for its use as a means of comparison 

 described it as having belonged to a very large male Camel ; 

 but here, also, we see no great difference in size, although 

 there are differences in the greater development of the bones 



