Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/103

* CAMEL. 79 CAMELID^ffi. portanee by the advance of railways, the opening a section of the ruminants termed Tylopoda. in of wagon roads, and other supersessions of its service, even in the remoter parts of its arid domain. See Plate of Camels and Llamas. CAMEL (from camel, as carrying heavj- bur- dens i. A water-tight, box-like contrivance de- signed for lifting ships, sunken weights, etc. The use of wooden floats for lightening the draught of a ship to permit her to pass over a shoal or bar is very old. but the invention of hollow floats, or camels, is ascriljed to the Dutch, and their first use is said to have been about 1GS8. The ordi- nary can)el is a simple rectangular box float, and is nnich used in nay-Tards and private ship- building establishments. The camels designed by the Dutch were sometimes a hundred feet or more in length, 20 feet broad, and made to fit the sides of the ship ; they were allowed to fill with water, hauled up close to the vessel's sides, and secured in place by chains and lashings. When the ship reached the shoal or bar the water was pumped out of the camels, and the increased buoyancy thus obtained raised the ship enough to materially decrease her draught. Modern camels which are used in wreck-raising are gen- erally built of steel and fitted with machinery for working the chains which support the wreck or attach it to the camel. CAMEL-BIRD. The ostrich : a book-name. CAMEL CRICKET, or Camel Locust. A mantis i q.v. i. CAMEL'ID.a; iXeo-Lat., from Gk. Kd/irios, kamelos, camel ) . The camel family, constituting 2 reference to the character of the feet. This family is composed of two genera — Camelus, with SKULLS OF CAMELS. 1. Poebrotherium. an extinct primitive tvpe. camel, showing cliange in dentition. " ■ Existing FEET OF FOSSIL CAMELS. Bonw of the feet, showing progressive development toward increase of size, union Olmelttpodials, etc.: 1. I'fDt.vinpus (Eocene) ; 2. Poebrotherium (Oligiicene)- 3 fiom- phothenum Su-mbergi (John I)a,v Hed»); i. Oomphotherium cameloides (Loup Fork Be. (Alter Wortman.) two species (see Camel), and Llama, the Amer- ican llamas, considered by some naturalists one species, by others four. ( See Llama. ) These animals agree in peculiarities of structure, which separate them from other ruminants, mainly as follows: Though a full set of incisor teeth are present in the young, only the outermost con- tinue through life as iso- lated laniariform teeth; canines are present in both jaws, and the mo- lars are solenodont in type. The skeleton has many peculiarities, of which a striking one is the excessive compara- tive length of the thigh- bone, and the detachment of the hind leg from the body. The limbs are long, the ankle-bones peculiar, and all traces of pha- langes are lost, except the third and fourth. These are not incased in matched hoofs, like other artiodaetyls, but the foot consists of two elongated toes, each tipped with a small, nail-like hoof, the feet resting not upon the hoofs, but upon elastic pads or cushions under the toes. In the camels the toes are united by a common sole, thus rest- ing upon one extended pad, instead of having each a separate one, as in the llama group, the broader expanse of the foot enabling the ani- mals of the one genus more easily to traverse the loose sand of the des- ert, while the narrow