St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1893-01-07
THIL CAMEL.
His Great Adaptabillty to Life Iron
the Desert.

inc Desert
Tie camel is found in Arabia. Persia,
Asia Minor, Afghanistan, Bcluchztan.
Mongolia, Western China and Northern
India, as we'll a> in SYRIA, Turkey. North
! Africa, and parts of Spain. The camel
! IS known by the same root word in near
! ~ all these lands; not page scarcely Of
an Arabic lexicon hut it has reference 10
the camel; Tie language ITSELF accord
| ing to Hammer Purgstall, knows him hv
5,14t Gamcs. The only reason why
Scripture is comparatively silent is he
cause the topography Of the Holy Land
is such that III most parts the use OF
camels is an impos>iblitv.
The two main distinguished species
! among its hundreds of varieties are the
Southern. Arabian. bumped camel,
and the Northern. Bactrian (two-humped
"ameN, Each is especially adapted to its
=, locality. The Bactrian camel is long
haired, tolerant Of the intense cold of the
Steppes, and is said to cat snow when
thirsty. The Arabian Species is short
haired. intoIerant Of cold, but able to
endure extreme heat. The limbs and
the structure Of the foot differ also in
each, to conform to desert caravan paths
in the one case and 10 mountain trails
and passes in the other
Apart from differences in species. 10
cnumerate the parts Of the camel is to
catalogue instances of evident design.
His lon-c neck, giving vide range Of
vision Ill desert marches and enabling
him to reach far To the meagre desert
shrubs on either side vt his pathway.
The CartilaCincus texture If his mouth.
enabling him to cat har, and tluorxv
pfants-thc pasture If the desert Ears
very small. and nostriis large for breath
ing, but also specially capable of closure
hy Valve-ljko folds against the fearful
simo"m Eyes prominent, but protected by
4 heavy orcrhanging upper lid, limiting
fi'aiQn upward and guarding from the
ioncd feet pectlhitss MONDAY sun. Cush-
the rider and the animal fay case of
horny pads to rest on W I"n snee}iug for
burden OF rcrose ON the hot sand. His
inmp rot ti,tional. hut a real aud &C
ku"Vl','ced r.Gtrvc ~t"re Of rutrirnent,
As we'll ~ nature,s parkSaddle for the
commerce CT ayes hay" You ever thought
Of the relation between vcur morning
cup IF Nrcha and the hump Of camel
in Yemen His water reservoirs in con
ncctinu with hc stomach-not as in the
Occidental Arabian Nights, for thirsty
travellers. but for the animal himself. and
enabling him when III good condition
TO travel for nvc DAYS without water.
Again, the camel alone of all rumiuants
ha, ncisor teeth in the upper jaw. which,
with the peculiar structure of his other
teeth, make Lis bite. the animals first and
main defence, most formidable. The
skeleton of the camel is full Of proofs of
design. Notice. for example, the arched
backbone, constructed in such way as
TO sustain the greatest weight in proper
ton to the span Of the supports. 4
strong camel can bear 1000 pounds
weight, although the usual load in Yemen
is not more than t00 pounds.
The sole support and the only wealth
of a large desert population near the
cradle Of the human race, all that can be |
from the animal is Of value.
Fuel, milk, excellent hair for tents,
ropes. shawls and coarser fabrics are OBJ
tanned from the living animal. and fresh
food. leather. bones. and other useful |
substances from the dead Even the !
footprints OF the camel, though soon ch-
liberated, arc of special value in the !
desert. Alighter or smaller foot would |
leave 10 tracks, but the came's foot leaves
data for the Bedouin science OF Atbar-
the art Of navigation fer the ship Of the
desert. Camel tracks are gossi p aud |
science, history and philosophy to the
Arab caravan.
Is it not also remarkable that, al
though many diseases attack the camel,
none, according to Eurckhardt, are cpl
dcmic? Thus has Providence prevented
the sudden mpoverishmcut of those who,
without the camel, would suffer starva-
ion.