The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1902-09-24
ORIGIN OF1'HE CAMEL.
elevs Supplied BY Fossils Found
In Arctics and Tropics
Animals That Couid Endure saS
Greatest Extremes of Colo 40
Well 40 Eeac-Sn,ali Species
OF the Cobb Desert.

Many people think OF the camel as
pl actical!y a tropical animal, perhaps
perhaps becadse some OF its u:Ost
striking cha ec;eristics fl u for Cross
inA the Desert uf Sahara. Its large
storage v1 water and the i:secsi;lre
soles OF It's feet naturally suggest
life near the equator. i-Sen the DO
m.srlcatec csr:v.s of Asia. whether Of
the Persia an-:i aGIau-AfIican .Ecc;es.
which mas but Jue huuk, Vi those of
Bactrlau orl.lI, which ais enCo"eu
with two, perform most Of incl: ser'-
Ice IN vh.; is. after all, a r:1,ty no,
.llinn1e, says th- New York Tribune.
However, III Ie.eEt nu:i.oef OF
"G.obus" DR.. Nehring, Uf H"-.in, lays
stress on the fact that tie EactrIan
c.mei ls svli;:tlrpes tCunG ia Siberia,
aud can endure the greatest known
eatremes VI cuiu Us well as those OF
heat, II the air IS ouly dry. lh ;he re-
piun west ot Lake Saikai the average
winter ,emye.a;ures are considerably
lower thou zero, and are often 10 and
5U degrees below that point. The hao-
ltat Of the camel here oTertcrs that
Of the reindeer! Yet in The Gool des-
ert in Turkestan, animals % ;he same
species have occasion 10 trot over
earth whose temperature ae times
rises to 130 and l40 degrees Fah1en-
hsit!
There has been much speculation
concerning the origin OF the cid world
came.s. Bactria, the little kingdom
which gives its name TO the two
bumped aul.ral, lies only little north
of Afgheals;an. And inasmuch as
fossil renalns of the family have been
recovered in the tertiary rocks of the
Siwalik hills, in northern Hindostan,it it
has been supposed that this was the
birthplace uf the race. But DR.. Neh-
ring points out the equipment OF
teeth-oae ot the most valuable c!ews
in tracing genea!ogies. Remains have
also been found in Algeria, and the
Berlin naturalist is confident that. the
genus thus revealed was connecting
link between the Siwahk camel and the
modern dromedary.
Only at comparatively recent date
was a satisfactory clew found to>tbe
Bactrian cenels ancestry. But fos-
sis from Roumauia, near the Danube,
and from the vicinity Of Sarepia, on
the Volga, now indicate pretty clearly
that the modern two-hunped camel
originated either in eastern Europe or
northwestern Asia. The Russian fos-
sils were associated with teeth be-
longing TO the mammoth, from which
it is fair 20 infer that the climate of
that region was milder when the bones
were inferred than it is now.
DR.. Nehring refers to the story told
a few years ago by DR.. Langkavo. that
there are camels no bigger than
horse running wild on the Cobb desert.
Having two humps. they are evidently
related to ths domesticated camels OF
central and northern Asia. Er. Nehr-
ing feels, however, that the accounts
thus far received need confirmation.
He wants to see the skins and bones
before he will credit the statements
made concerning the size OF these
creatures.
No mention is made of the extinct
came!s OF America by the contributor
TO the rarcs of "Giobus." Il is well
known taat remains have been ciscoV-
cred in II. Rocky mountains malcA
date back as far as any Aslatlc sos-
sis. ard ml::ch show long and gradual
development of the race OH this CONT
neut. Some Of the specimens found
ore even smaller than the modern
horse. In like manner, there were
primitive horses in America no bigger
than sheep. Hence the only remark
able part of the story about wilc cam
e,s in the GoEi desert which are small
er than those now IL the service OF man
is that the species should be IN exist
ence TODAY