124 THE CAMEL. 
If we consider the singular conformation of 
the camel, we cannot but be struck with the evi' 
dent marks which he bears of a regular desig*' 
in his wonderful adaptation to the purpose* 
for which he is employed. He is distinguished 
from the other classes of ruminating aniro^^^* 
by his tumid and cloven lip, his prodigiously 
long neck, his unsightly legs and feet, and h’® 
peculiar gait : the hump or protuberance 
being, strictly speaking, one of these esseiiti® 
characters of distinction, since the same kio 
of excrescence is found in the buffalo, 
bison, the yak, and other animals. His 
are peculiarly fitted for the soil on which 1'^ 
has to tread. They are liable to be injure 
by travelling on stones, and he cannot 
support himself on moist and slippery clay*^ 
but his broad hoofs are admirably calculate 
for travelling on the dry and parched sawd* 
of the Arabian and African deserts. But tl*^^ 
peculiar and distinguishing characteristic ^ 
