122 CHARACTERS OF VERTEBRATE ANIMALS 



a mildly interested but superior expression, like a patrician lady in 

 a Sunday-school. You feel that a pair of glasses at the end of 

 a fan is the one thing lacking. Then it puts its lips gently 

 forward, with a far-away look in its eyes, and you have just time 

 to say ' The pretty dear is going to kiss me ', when two rows 

 of frightful green teeth clash in front of you, and you give such 

 a backward jump as you could never have hoped at your age 

 to accomplish. When once the veil is dropped, anything more 

 demoniacal than the face of a camel cannot be conceived. No 

 kindness and no length of ownership seems to make them friendly. 

 And yet you must make allowances for a creature which can 

 carry 600 lbs. for twenty miles a day, and ask for no water and 

 little food at the end of it." 



The Arabian Camel (Camelus dromedarius) is the common 

 one -humped form of Africa and Asia, while the two -humped 

 Bactrian Camel (C. bactrianus), a smaller animal, is characteristic 

 of the desert regions of Central Asia. 



The American members of the Camel Family consist of two 

 wild species, conveniently grouped under the head of Llamas, a 

 term also including the two domesticated forms. These animals 

 are smaller than camels and more gracefully built; they are also 

 devoid of a hump. The ears are pointed and comparatively 

 long, instead of being short and rounded, the tail is very short, 

 and the feet are relatively small as compared with the camel. 



Of the two wild species the animal known as the Guanaco 

 (Lamaguan acus) is larger and more heavily built. It ranges 

 from the mountains of Ecuador southwards to Tierra del Fuego. 

 It is probably from this species that the two domestic forms, 

 known as the Llama (Z. lama) and the Alpaca (Z. pacos), are 

 descended. 



The second wild species is the comparatively small and 

 graceful Vicunia (Z. vicunia), which ranges through the mountains 

 of South America from Bolivia to Ecuador. 



Order 11. — Gnawers (Rodentia) 



This widely-distributed order includes a larger number of forms 

 than any other, all of which feed largely, and the majority entirely, 

 upon vegetable food. The largest species does not exceed the 

 size of a small pig, while some are extremely small. Most of 



