The Tower Menagerie : $b comprising the natural history of the animals contained in that establishment; with anecdotes of their characters and history.Bennett, Edward Turner
History
The Tower Menagerie : $b comprising the natural history of the animals contained in that establishment; with anecdotes of their characters and history.
In common with the Camels, the Llamas are distinguished from all other
Ruminating animals chiefly by the absence of horns, by the structure of
their feet, and by their mode of dentition, in all of which these two
closely allied groups very nearly correspond with each other. In their
general form there is also some similarity; but the latter are much
lighter in their proportions, and far more lively and spirited in their
motions. They exhibit no traces of the clumsy and unsightly humps which
disfigure the backs of the former, and their necks and limbs, of greater
comparative length, appear to be far less oppressed by the superincumbent
weight of the head and body, which are consequently maintained in a more
upright and graceful position. The principal difference in their internal
structure consists in the want of that extensive appendage to the first
stomach, which renders the Camel so peculiarly valuable in situations
where water is with difficulty procured, by enabling him to lay in at
once a sufficient stock of that indispensable necessary to supply his
wants for many days. But even without this appendage the Llamas are
observed to be by no means so much exposed to frequent thirst as the
generality of animals, and to drink but rarely and in moderate quantity.
The feet of the Camels and of the Llamas are very different in form
from those of all the other Ruminants. They are, it is true, deeply
divided, like those of the latter, into two apparent toes; but cannot be
said, like them, to part the hoof, for they have no real hoof, and the
extremities of their protruded toes are armed only with short, thick,
and crooked claws. These toes are in the Camels united posteriorly by
a horny process, which is wanting in the Llamas. The teeth of both are
nearly similar: they consist of six incisors in the lower jaw and two in
the upper; of two canines in each; and of six molars in the upper, and
five in the lower, on each side. None of the other Ruminants exhibit the
least appearance of cutting teeth in the upper jaw. The nostrils of both
consist externally of mere fissures in the skin, which may be opened
and closed at pleasure, and which are surrounded by a naked muzzle; and
their upper lip is divided into two distinct portions, which are very
extensible, and capable of much separate motion.
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