372 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS 
CHAP. 
also two pointed teeth implanted in the inter¬ 
maxillary bones, six inferior incisors, and fromeighteen 
to twenty molars only ; peculiarities which, of all the 
Ruminantia, they alone possess, besides which the 
scaphoid and cuboid bones of the tarsus are 
separated. 
“ Instead of the great hoof, flat at its inner side, 
which envelops the whole of the inferior portion of 
each toe, and which determines the figure of the 
ordinary cloven foot, they have but one small one, 
which only adheres to the last phalanx, and is 
symmetrically formed like the hoofs of the Pachyder- 
mata. . . .Their extreme sobriety, and the faculty they 
possess of passing several days without drinking, 
cause them to be of the highest utility. 
<£ It is probable that this last faculty results from 
the vast masses of cells which cover the sides of their 
paunch, in which water is constantly retained or 
produced. The other ruminants have nothing of 
the kind.” 
I cannot agree with Cuvier in accepting the 
word “produced.” As I have already described, 
the Arabs invariably let the camels drink immedi¬ 
ately before starting on their journey. The animals 
drink their fill, and take a considerable time, resting 
between their long draughts. They seem to be 
aware, when loaded, that they have a long journey 
before them, therefore from a natural instinct they 
prepare for the thirsty desert, and fill their cells ; but 
those cells do not “ produce ” water. 
The fact of a camel being a ruminating animal is 
