dro’medary. n.s.

DRO’MEDARY. n.s. [dromedare, Italian.] A sort of camel so called from its swiftness, because it is said to travel a hundred miles a day, and some affirm one hundred and fifty. Dromedaries are smaller than common camels, slenderer, and more nimble, and are of two kinds: one larger, with two small bunches, covered with hair, on its back; the other lesser, with one hairy eminence, and more frequently called camel: both are capable of great fatigue, and very serviceable in the western parts of Asia, where they abound. Their hair is soft and shorn: they have no fangs and foreteeth, nor horn upon their feet, which are only covered with a fleshy skin; and they are about seven feet and a half high, from the ground to the top of their heads. They drink much at a time, and are said to disturb the water with their feet. They keep the water long in their stomachs, which, as some report, travellers in necessity will open for the sake of the water contained in them. The stomach of this animal is composed of four ventricles; and in the second are several mouths, which open a passage into twenty cavities, which serve for conservatories of water. See CAMEL. Calmet.”

(Dr. Johnson, noted here.)

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