Benched in Southern California

The forest in the state park at the north end of the Long Beach Peninsula is one of the places in the Pacific Northwest where wispy mosses seemingly grow in thin air.

 

Here, moss of the species Usnea has formed a garland in an evergreen shrub.

==========================================================================================================================

Usnea is the generic and scientific name for several species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae, that generally grow hanging from tree branches, resembling grey or greenish hair.

 

It is sometimes referred to commonly as Old Man's Beard, Beard Lichen, Tree's Dandruff, Woman's Long Hair, or Tree Moss. It should not be confused with Oak Moss (genus Evernia), which it physically resembles and is also called Tree Moss.Usnea grows all over the world.

www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/404650

I've never had one of these in an adult living space of my own. They are actually pretty amazing. Instead of shaving my whole neck raw, I can focus on specific, individual hairs. I guess the women were right, after all. These things are awesome. Don't get me started about zits... They make zit management amazing.

 

Aww cute, I put a towel on my shoulder so as not to appear naked, and disturb the more prudish viewers. Aren't I considerate? (No, I'm not, or I wouldn't have pointed this fact out.)

 

And boy does that metal knight figurine look a lot more menacing in the mirror reflection, which makes him look twice as tall, and thrice as evil.

 

Clint.

reflection, vanity mirror.

 

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

 

May 2, 2015.

  

... Read my blog at ClintJCL at wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL at wordpress.com

 

... Read my yard sale-related blogposts at clintjcl dot wordpress dot com/category/yard-sales/

  

BACKSTORY: Got up around 8:50AM, made it out driving by ~9:15 and went out until 2:27PM for a total of 5.25 hours. Spent $60.55 plus ~$10.66 gas for 40.0 miles of driving (14 mpg @ $3.73/G), for a total cost of $71.21. We drove to 24 yard sales, stopping at 15 (62%) of them. We made 44 purchases (69 items) for a total estimated value of $814.81, leading to a profit/savings of $743.60. So in essence, we multiplied our $71.21 investment by 11.44X. (Also, if you think about it, the profit counts for even more when you consider that we have to earn ~$900 on the job, pre-tax, in order to take home the $789 in cash that we saved. How long does $900 of disposable income take to earn, vs the 5.25 hrs we spent here?) Anyway, this works out to a *post-tax* "wage" of $124.26/hr as a couple or $62.13/hr per person.

 

THE TAKE:

 

$5.00: lawn darts, Regent "Slider" Jarts, model 73929, in box, part no. 01-73927, Regent Sports Corporation, Hauppauge, NY 11787 (EV:$100)

 

$5.00: (8) generic folding chairs (EV:$11.99)

 

$5.00: ottoman, leather, 18.5x18.5x16.5" high, with storage area (EV:$51.00)

 

$5.00: wooden multishelf unit, 30x24x5" deep, 7 shelves (EV:$29.00) (not quite this, but I can't find anything more exact)

 

$4.00: mechanic's creeper, on wheels (EV:$24.49)

 

$4.00: clock radio, Proton 320, Model #320, Serial # P32178259 (EV:$22.83)

 

$3.00: fan, adjusts from 33" high to 47" high, white, plastic, Galaxy, turns out it doesn't work. (EV:$32.69), but we are counting it as $0.00 since it didn't work.

 

$3.00: lamp, silver, metal clip on, 9" extension, model hbp1001c-109, 12746 SKU: 717-880 "DLC" 0-4633584495-7, date: 201203, E91675 (EV:$28.49)

 

$3.00: bag of hotel toiletries, 11 bottles of lotion (SolTerre), 17 bottles of shampoo (SolTerre), 16 bars of soap (SolTerre), 1 small container of Morton's salt and 1 small container of Morton's pepper (EV:$21.99)

 

$3.00: car tray, interior, Keller, 2 cup holders, 10x16"(EV:$27.48), it's not quite this, but I can't find a closer match.

 

$2.00: cordless vacuum, SharK-15.6 volts, sv7514 (EV:$28.99)

 

$2.00: mirror, magnifying, wall-mount, ConAir The Classique Collection #41742, 8" diameter, 5x magnification, tri-fold arm extends 12.5" from wall, outer arm swivals 360 degrees, (EV:$42.74)

 

$1.00: extension cord, white, 2-prong, 6ft, vendor# 64646 (EV:$5.32)

 

$1.00: guitar, First Act Discovery, missing 3 strings, FG 125, 31"x10" (EV:$1.04)

 

$1.00: game, roller dice, Sportcraft, model no. 11005, barcode 04473610053 (EV:$3.01 price tag)

 

$1.00: hanging metal decoration, 18 point metal star, welded, very sharp and pointy, 18" across (EV:$81.90)

 

$1.00: (6) bottles of hair spray, flourescent, Star Quality, 5 bottles 3.5 oz each (3 purple, 1 green, 1 silver), 1 bottle 3.0 oz (yellow) (EV:$0.40 each price tags)

 

$1.00: carpet freshener, Glade, 42.6 oz (EV:$5.29)

 

$1.00: toy, Sit 'n Spin, blue with cow face. PlaySkool, 2013 Hasbro (EV:$18.89)

 

$1.00: toy, airplane, some sort of hard plastic material, WestAir N360SE, 17.5x18.25" (EV:$5?)

 

$1.00: toy, airplane, some sort of hard plastic material, Piedmont Commuter, N332SB, 14.25x18.25(EV:$5?)

 

$1.00: pan, skillet, flat, square, Calphalon, 11x11 (EV:$19.95)

 

$1.00: game, Blockbuster Movie Game, plays with any movie (EV:$5.00)

 

$1.00: 2 speakers, 5" cubes, Optimus XTS 40, Cat no 40-1991, wire kind (EV:$13.26)

 

$1.00: picture frame, 15.5x12.5, wood trim (EV:$22.99)

 

$1.00: snow shovel, definitely needed after both of ours broke this past winter! (EV:$8.98)

 

$0.50: vinegar, White House, half a 64oz bottle (EV:$1.70 at Peapod)

 

$0.50: wrapping paper, 40" long roll (EV:$1.00)

 

$0.25: shirt, holographic, Disney Camp Rock, style #k2826t0005 (EV:$9.00) Not an exact match.

 

$0.25: toy, Simpsons, Lisa Simpson, Burger King, 2011, light up red chest, 3"hx2"w (EV:$5.99)

 

$0.25: toy, Adventure Time, Jake, McDonalds, with spring chest, 3.5"x2.25(EV:$1.00)

 

$0.25: instrument, recorder, pink clear plastic, Yamaha (EV:$4.97)

 

$0.25: toy, top, gyroscope, with plastic case, CBOCS (EV:$4.99 price tag)

 

$0.10: glue,Elmer's Wood Glue, 8 fl oz (EV:$1.99 for 4 fl oz so $3.98 for 8 fl oz)

 

$0.10: lint brush, Magic Brush, Helmac Products, yellow plastic handle (EV:$6.45)

 

$0.10: toy, matchbox car, Cheerios, Chex, 43, blue and yellow, 3"x1"(EV:$1.04)

 

$FREE: lamp, 28" high, 11" wide (EV:$5.00)

 

$FREE: carpet, for outside (EV:$12.00)

 

$FREE: Sit 'n Spin, green with red face, PlaySkool, 2004 Hasbro, requires batteries and has button but it doesn't seem to work (EV:$18.89)

 

$FREE: paint, white, maybe 1/4 of a gallon of Glidden Ultra Hide Latex Eggshell (EV:$2.99 rationale:$11.97 for a gallon)

 

$FREE: candy, Ice Chips Margarita, sweetened with xylitol, 1.76 oz, shrinkwrapped (EV:$27.95 for 6, or 4.65 each)

 

$FREE: jar, plastic, locking top, DynaWare 10x5.5" (EV:$10.19)

 

$FREE: 7 manga books, Manga Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, The Tempest, A MidSummer Night's Dream (EV:$9.95 price tag for 4 of them, $10.95 price tag for 3 of them)

 

$FREE: wig, blonde with darker streaks, the lady called it a "Miley Cyris" wig (EV:$5.85)

  

Oranjello is getting sick of our antics.

 

Lisa Simpson action figure, Oranjello the cat.

cartoon: The Simpsons.

 

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

 

May 2, 2015.

  

... Read my blog at ClintJCL at wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL at wordpress.com

 

... Read my yard sale-related blogposts at clintjcl dot wordpress dot com/category/yard-sales/

  

BACKSTORY: Got up around 8:50AM, made it out driving by ~9:15 and went out until 2:27PM for a total of 5.25 hours. Spent $60.55 plus ~$10.66gas for 40.0 miles of driving (14 mpg @ $3.73/G), for a total cost of $71.21. We drove to 24 yard sales, stopping at 15 (62%) of them. We made 44 purchases (69 items) for a total estimated value of $814.81, leading to a profit/savings of $743.60. So in essence, we multiplied our $71.21 investment by 11.44X. (Also, if you think about it, the profit counts for even more when you consider that we have to earn ~$900 on the job, pre-tax, in order to take home the $789 in cash that we saved. How long does $900 of disposable income take to earn, vs the 5.25 hrs we spent here?) Anyway, this works out to a *post-tax* "wage" of $124.26/hr as a couple or $62.13/hr per person.

 

THE TAKE:

 

$5.00: lawn darts, Regent "Slider" Jarts, model 73929, in box, part no. 01-73927, Regent Sports Corporation, Hauppauge, NY 11787 (EV:$100)

 

$5.00: (8) generic folding chairs (EV:$11.99)

 

$5.00: ottoman, leather, 18.5x18.5x16.5" high, with storage area (EV:$51.00)

 

$5.00: wooden multishelf unit, 30x24x5" deep, 7 shelves (EV:$29.00) (not quite this, but I can't find anything more exact)

 

$4.00: mechanic's creeper, on wheels (EV:$24.49)

 

$4.00: clock radio, Proton 320, Model #320, Serial # P32178259 (EV:$22.83)

 

$3.00: fan, adjusts from 33" high to 47" high, white, plastic, Galaxy, turns out it doesn't work. (EV:$32.69), but we are counting it as $0.00 since it didn't work.

 

$3.00: lamp, silver, metal clip on, 9" extension, model hbp1001c-109, 12746 SKU: 717-880 "DLC" 0-4633584495-7, date: 201203, E91675 (EV:$28.49)

 

$3.00: bag of hotel toiletries, 11 bottles of lotion (SolTerre), 17 bottles of shampoo (SolTerre), 16 bars of soap (SolTerre), 1 small container of Morton's salt and 1 small container of Morton's pepper (EV:$21.99)

 

$3.00: car tray, interior, Keller, 2 cup holders, 10x16"(EV:$27.48), it's not quite this, but I can't find a closer match.

 

$2.00: cordless vacuum, SharK-15.6 volts, sv7514 (EV:$28.99)

 

$2.00: mirror, magnifying, wall-mount, ConAir The Classique Collection #41742, 8" diameter, 5x magnification, tri-fold arm extends 12.5" from wall, outer arm swivals 360 degrees, (EV:$42.74)

 

$1.00: extension cord, white, 2-prong, 6ft, vendor# 64646 (EV:$5.32)

 

$1.00: guitar, First Act Discovery, missing 3 strings, FG 125, 31"x10" (EV:$1.04)

 

$1.00: game, roller dice, Sportcraft, model no. 11005, barcode 04473610053 (EV:$3.01 price tag)

 

$1.00: hanging metal decoration, 18 point metal star, welded, very sharp and pointy, 18" across (EV:$81.90)

 

$1.00: (6) bottles of hair spray, flourescent, Star Quality, 5 bottles 3.5 oz each (3 purple, 1 green, 1 silver), 1 bottle 3.0 oz (yellow) (EV:$0.40 each price tags)

 

$1.00: carpet freshener, Glade, 42.6 oz (EV:$5.29)

 

$1.00: toy, Sit 'n Spin, blue with cow face. PlaySkool, 2013 Hasbro (EV:$18.89)

 

$1.00: toy, airplane, some sort of hard plastic material, WestAir N360SE, 17.5x18.25" (EV:$5?)

 

$1.00: toy, airplane, some sort of hard plastic material, Piedmont Commuter, N332SB, 14.25x18.25(EV:$5?)

 

$1.00: pan, skillet, flat, square, Calphalon, 11x11 (EV:$19.95)

 

$1.00: game, Blockbuster Movie Game, plays with any movie (EV:$5.00)

 

$1.00: 2 speakers, 5" cubes, Optimus XTS 40, Cat no 40-1991, wire kind (EV:$13.26)

 

$1.00: picture frame, 15.5x12.5, wood trim (EV:$22.99)

 

$1.00: snow shovel, definitely needed after both of ours broke this past winter! (EV:$8.98)

 

$0.50: vinegar, White House, half a 64oz bottle (EV:$1.70 at Peapod)

 

$0.50: wrapping paper, 40" long roll (EV:$1.00)

 

$0.25: shirt, holographic, Disney Camp Rock, style #k2826t0005 (EV:$9.00) Not an exact match.

 

$0.25: toy, Simpsons, Lisa Simpson, Burger King, 2011, light up red chest, 3"hx2"w (EV:$5.99)

 

$0.25: toy, Adventure Time, Jake, McDonalds, with spring chest, 3.5"x2.25(EV:$1.00)

 

$0.25: instrument, recorder, pink clear plastic, Yamaha (EV:$4.97)

 

$0.25: toy, top, gyroscope, with plastic case, CBOCS (EV:$4.99 price tag)

 

$0.10: glue, Elmer's Wood Glue, 8 fl oz (EV:$1.99 for 4 fl oz so $3.98 for 8 fl oz)

 

$0.10: lint brush, Magic Brush, Helmac Products, yellow plastic handle (EV:$6.45)

 

$0.10: toy, matchbox car, Cheerios, Chex, 43, blue and yellow, 3"x1"(EV:$1.04)

 

$FREE: lamp, 28" high, 11" wide (EV:$5.00)

 

$FREE: carpet, for outside (EV:$12.00)

 

$FREE: Sit 'n Spin, green with red face, PlaySkool, 2004 Hasbro, requires batteries and has button but it doesn't seem to work (EV:$18.89)

 

$FREE: paint, white, maybe 1/4 of a gallon of Glidden Ultra Hide Latex Eggshell (EV:$2.99 rationale:$11.97 for a gallon)

 

$FREE: candy, Ice Chips Margarita, sweetened with xylitol, 1.76 oz, shrinkwrapped (EV:$27.95 for 6, or 4.65 each)

 

$FREE: jar, plastic, locking top, DynaWare 10x5.5" (EV:$10.19)

 

$FREE: 7 manga books, Manga Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, The Tempest, A MidSummer Night's Dream (EV:$9.95 price tag for 4 of them, $10.95 price tag for 3 of them)

 

$FREE: wig, blonde with darker streaks, the lady called it a "Miley Cyris" wig (EV:$5.85)

  

Sometimes the muse works in mysterious ways. There I was working on two separate pieces of art which, after realising the similarities between them, decided should become part of a larger triptych. The only trouble then was that they needed a third unifying part that would (hopefully) allow them all to make sense as a whole. This meant it was back to the drawing board to scratch my head for a whilst waiting for this magical third section to materialise in my mind's eye.

 

Nothing but dandruff came out of this scalp relaxation session until the other half of id-iom walked passed me and nonchalantly came out with a most cromulent quote that seemed to hit the nail squarely on the head. Not bothering to stop or change course he just sauntered along to do whatever he was doing in the first place but that inspiration was all i need to get the piece finished.

 

Considering the pieces originally had no order and the middle section was the final piece of the puzzle it seems a particularly fitting quote.

 

Cheers

 

id-iom

 

Title: The last thing one discovers...

Materials: Paint pen, acrylic, ink, charcoal, Tipp Ex and Spray paint

 

Size: A4 x 3

via Instagram ift.tt/2bIKi6Q

There wasn't much place left to install this mirror, but I managed to squeeze it in, here. It is possible that it could be left in a configuration such that a dumb guest could open the medicine cabinet and rip this mirror out of the wall. I am hoping no guest is careless enough to do that.

 

reflection, vanity mirror.

 

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

 

May 2, 2015.

  

... Read my blog at ClintJCL at wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL at wordpress.com

 

... Read my yard sale-related blogposts at clintjcl dot wordpress dot com/category/yard-sales/

  

BACKSTORY: Got up around 8:50AM, made it out driving by ~9:15 and went out until 2:27PM for a total of 5.25 hours. Spent $60.55 plus ~$10.66 gas for 40.0 miles of driving (14 mpg @ $3.73/G), for a total cost of $71.21. We drove to 24 yard sales, stopping at 15 (62%) of them. We made 44 purchases (69 items) for a total estimated value of $814.81, leading to a profit/savings of $743.60. So in essence, we multiplied our $71.21 investment by 11.44X. (Also, if you think about it, the profit counts for even more when you consider that we have to earn ~$900 on the job, pre-tax, in order to take home the $789 in cash that we saved. How long does $900 of disposable income take to earn, vs the 5.25 hrs we spent here?) Anyway, this works out to a *post-tax* "wage" of $124.26/hr as a couple or $62.13/hr per person.

 

THE TAKE:

 

$5.00: lawn darts, Regent "Slider" Jarts, model 73929, in box, part no. 01-73927, Regent Sports Corporation, Hauppauge, NY 11787 (EV:$100)

 

$5.00: (8) generic folding chairs (EV:$11.99)

 

$5.00: ottoman, leather, 18.5x18.5x16.5" high, with storage area (EV:$51.00)

 

$5.00: wooden multishelf unit, 30x24x5" deep, 7 shelves (EV:$29.00) (not quite this, but I can't find anything more exact)

 

$4.00: mechanic's creeper, on wheels (EV:$24.49)

 

$4.00: clock radio, Proton 320, Model #320, Serial # P32178259 (EV:$22.83)

 

$3.00: fan, adjusts from 33" high to 47" high, white, plastic, Galaxy, turns out it doesn't work. (EV:$32.69), but we are counting it as $0.00 since it didn't work.

 

$3.00: lamp, silver, metal clip on, 9" extension, model hbp1001c-109, 12746 SKU: 717-880 "DLC" 0-4633584495-7, date: 201203, E91675 (EV:$28.49)

 

$3.00: bag of hotel toiletries, 11 bottles of lotion (SolTerre), 17 bottles of shampoo (SolTerre), 16 bars of soap (SolTerre), 1 small container of Morton's salt and 1 small container of Morton's pepper (EV:$21.99)

 

$3.00: car tray, interior, Keller, 2 cup holders, 10x16"(EV:$27.48), it's not quite this, but I can't find a closer match.

 

$2.00: cordless vacuum, SharK-15.6 volts, sv7514 (EV:$28.99)

 

$2.00: mirror, magnifying, wall-mount, ConAir The Classique Collection #41742, 8" diameter, 5x magnification, tri-fold arm extends 12.5" from wall, outer arm swivals 360 degrees, (EV:$42.74)

 

$1.00: extension cord, white, 2-prong, 6ft, vendor# 64646 (EV:$5.32)

 

$1.00: guitar, First Act Discovery, missing 3 strings, FG 125, 31"x10" (EV:$1.04)

 

$1.00: game, roller dice, Sportcraft, model no. 11005, barcode 04473610053 (EV:$3.01 price tag)

 

$1.00: hanging metal decoration, 18 point metal star, welded, very sharp and pointy, 18" across (EV:$81.90)

 

$1.00: (6) bottles of hair spray, flourescent, Star Quality, 5 bottles 3.5 oz each (3 purple, 1 green, 1 silver), 1 bottle 3.0 oz (yellow) (EV:$0.40 each price tags)

 

$1.00: carpet freshener, Glade, 42.6 oz (EV:$5.29)

 

$1.00: toy, Sit 'n Spin, blue with cow face. PlaySkool, 2013 Hasbro (EV:$18.89)

 

$1.00: toy, airplane, some sort of hard plastic material, WestAir N360SE, 17.5x18.25" (EV:$5?)

 

$1.00: toy, airplane, some sort of hard plastic material, Piedmont Commuter, N332SB, 14.25x18.25(EV:$5?)

 

$1.00: pan, skillet, flat, square, Calphalon, 11x11 (EV:$19.95)

 

$1.00: game, Blockbuster Movie Game, plays with any movie (EV:$5.00)

 

$1.00: 2 speakers, 5" cubes, Optimus XTS 40, Cat no 40-1991, wire kind (EV:$13.26)

 

$1.00: picture frame, 15.5x12.5, wood trim (EV:$22.99)

 

$1.00: snow shovel, definitely needed after both of ours broke this past winter! (EV:$8.98)

 

$0.50: vinegar, White House, halfa 64oz bottle (EV:$1.70 at Peapod)

 

$0.50: wrapping paper, 40" long roll (EV:$1.00)

 

$0.25: shirt, holographic, Disney Camp Rock, style #k2826t0005 (EV:$9.00) Not an exact match.

 

$0.25: toy, Simpsons, Lisa Simpson, Burger King, 2011, light up red chest, 3"hx2"w (EV:$5.99)

 

$0.25: toy, Adventure Time, Jake, McDonalds, with spring chest, 3.5"x2.25(EV:$1.00)

 

$0.25: instrument, recorder, pink clear plastic, Yamaha (EV:$4.97)

 

$0.25: toy, top, gyroscope, with plastic case, CBOCS (EV:$4.99 price tag)

 

$0.10: glue, Elmer's Wood Glue, 8 fl oz (EV:$1.99 for 4 fl oz so $3.98 for 8 fl oz)

 

$0.10: lint brush, Magic Brush, Helmac Products, yellow plastic handle (EV:$6.45)

 

$0.10: toy, matchbox car, Cheerios, Chex, 43, blue and yellow, 3"x1"(EV:$1.04)

 

$FREE: lamp, 28" high, 11" wide (EV:$5.00)

 

$FREE: carpet, for outside (EV:$12.00)

 

$FREE: Sit 'n Spin, green with red face, PlaySkool, 2004 Hasbro, requires batteries and has button but it doesn't seem to work (EV:$18.89)

 

$FREE: paint, white, maybe 1/4 of a gallon of Glidden Ultra Hide Latex Eggshell (EV:$2.99 rationale:$11.97 for a gallon)

 

$FREE: candy, Ice Chips Margarita, sweetened with xylitol, 1.76 oz, shrinkwrapped (EV:$27.95 for 6, or 4.65 each)

 

$FREE: jar, plastic, locking top, DynaWare 10x5.5" (EV:$10.19)

 

$FREE: 7 manga books, Manga Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, The Tempest, A MidSummer Night's Dream (EV:$9.95 price tag for 4 of them, $10.95 price tag for 3 of them)

 

$FREE: wig, blonde with darker streaks, the lady called it a "Miley Cyris" wig (EV:$5.85)

  

Jake The Dog action figure, Lisa Simpson action figure, brush, candy, car, carpet, dress, extension cord, fluorescent hairspray, glue, gyroscope, hair spray, light, speaker.

cartoon: Adventure Time. cartoon: The Simpsons.

 

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

 

May 2, 2015.

  

... Read my blog at ClintJCL at wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL at wordpress.com

 

... Read my yard sale-related blogposts at clintjcl dot wordpress dot com/category/yard-sales/

  

BACKSTORY: Got up around 8:50AM, made it out driving by ~9:15 and went out until 2:27PM for a total of 5.25 hours. Spent $60.55 plus ~$10.66 gas for 40.0 miles of driving (14 mpg @ $3.73/G), for a total cost of $71.21. We drove to 24 yard sales, stopping at 15 (62%) of them. We made 44 purchases (69 items) for a total estimated value of $814.81, leading to a profit/savings of $743.60. So in essence, we multiplied our $71.21 investment by 11.44X. (Also, if you think about it, the profit counts for even more when you consider that we have to earn ~$900 on the job, pre-tax, in order to take home the $789 in cash that we saved. How long does $900 of disposable income take to earn, vs the 5.25 hrs we spent here?) Anyway, this works out to a *post-tax* "wage" of $124.26/hr as a couple or $62.13/hr per person.

 

THE TAKE:

 

$5.00: lawn darts, Regent "Slider" Jarts, model 73929, in box, part no. 01-73927, Regent Sports Corporation, Hauppauge, NY 11787 (EV:$100)

 

$5.00: (8) generic folding chairs (EV:$11.99)

 

$5.00: ottoman, leather, 18.5x18.5x16.5" high, with storage area (EV:$51.00)

 

$5.00: wooden multishelf unit, 30x24x5" deep, 7 shelves (EV:$29.00) (not quite this, but I can't find anything more exact)

 

$4.00: mechanic's creeper, on wheels (EV:$24.49)

 

$4.00: clock radio, Proton 320, Model #320, Serial # P32178259 (EV:$22.83)

 

$3.00: fan, adjusts from 33" high to 47" high, white, plastic, Galaxy, turns out it doesn't work. (EV:$32.69), but we are counting it as $0.00 since it didn't work.

 

$3.00: lamp, silver, metal clip on, 9" extension, model hbp1001c-109, 12746 SKU: 717-880 "DLC" 0-4633584495-7, date: 201203, E91675 (EV:$28.49)

 

$3.00: bag of hotel toiletries, 11 bottles of lotion (SolTerre), 17 bottles of shampoo (SolTerre), 16 bars of soap (SolTerre), 1 small container of Morton's salt and 1 small container of Morton's pepper (EV:$21.99)

 

$3.00: car tray, interior, Keller, 2 cup holders, 10x16"(EV:$27.48), it's not quite this, but I can't find a closer match.

 

$2.00: cordless vacuum, SharK-15.6 volts, sv7514 (EV:$28.99)

 

$2.00: mirror, magnifying, wall-mount, ConAir The Classique Collection #41742, 8" diameter, 5x magnification, tri-fold arm extends 12.5" from wall, outer arm swivals 360 degrees, (EV:$42.74)

 

$1.00: extension cord, white, 2-prong, 6ft, vendor# 64646 (EV:$5.32)

 

$1.00: guitar, First Act Discovery, missing 3 strings, FG 125, 31"x10" (EV:$1.04)

 

$1.00: game, roller dice, Sportcraft, model no. 11005, barcode 04473610053 (EV:$3.01 price tag)

 

$1.00: hanging metal decoration, 18 point metal star, welded, very sharp and pointy, 18" across (EV:$81.90)

 

$1.00: (6) bottles of hair spray, flourescent, Star Quality, 5 bottles 3.5 oz each (3 purple, 1 green, 1 silver), 1 bottle 3.0 oz (yellow) (EV:$0.40 each price tags)

 

$1.00: carpet freshener, Glade, 42.6 oz (EV:$5.29)

 

$1.00: toy, Sit 'n Spin, blue with cow face. PlaySkool, 2013 Hasbro (EV:$18.89)

 

$1.00: toy, airplane, some sort of hard plastic material, WestAir N360SE, 17.5x18.25" (EV:$5?)

 

$1.00: toy, airplane, some sort of hard plastic material, Piedmont Commuter, N332SB, 14.25x18.25(EV:$5?)

 

$1.00: pan, skillet, flat, square, Calphalon, 11x11 (EV:$19.95)

 

$1.00: game, Blockbuster Movie Game, plays with any movie (EV:$5.00)

 

$1.00: 2 speakers, 5" cubes, Optimus XTS 40, Cat no 40-1991, wire kind (EV:$13.26)

 

$1.00: picture frame, 15.5x12.5, wood trim (EV:$22.99)

 

$1.00: snow shovel, definitely needed after both of ours broke this past winter! (EV:$8.98)

 

$0.50: vinegar, White House, half a 64oz bottle (EV:$1.70 at Peapod)

 

$0.50: wrapping paper, 40" long roll (EV:$1.00)

 

$0.25: shirt, holographic, Disney Camp Rock, style #k2826t0005 (EV:$9.00) Not an exact match.

 

$0.25: toy, Simpsons, Lisa Simpson, Burger King, 2011, light up red chest, 3"hx2"w (EV:$5.99)

 

$0.25: toy, Adventure Time, Jake, McDonalds, with spring chest, 3.5"x2.25(EV:$1.00)

 

$0.25: instrument, recorder, pink clear plastic, Yamaha (EV:$4.97)

 

$0.25: toy, top, gyroscope, with plastic case, CBOCS (EV:$4.99 price tag)

 

$0.10: glue, Elmer's Wood Glue, 8 fl oz (EV:$1.99 for 4 fl oz so $3.98 for 8 fl oz)

 

$0.10: lint brush, Magic Brush, Helmac Products, yellow plastic handle (EV:$6.45)

 

$0.10: toy, matchbox car, Cheerios, Chex, 43, blue and yellow, 3"x1"(EV:$1.04)

 

$FREE: lamp, 28" high, 11" wide (EV:$5.00)

 

$FREE: carpet, for outside (EV:$12.00)

 

$FREE: Sit 'n Spin, green with red face, PlaySkool, 2004 Hasbro, requires batteries and has button but it doesn't seem to work (EV:$18.89)

 

$FREE: paint, white, maybe 1/4 of a gallon of Glidden Ultra Hide Latex Eggshell (EV:$2.99 rationale:$11.97 for a gallon)

 

$FREE: candy, Ice Chips Margarita, sweetened with xylitol, 1.76 oz, shrinkwrapped (EV:$27.95 for 6, or 4.65 each)

 

$FREE: jar, plastic, locking top, DynaWare 10x5.5" (EV:$10.19)

 

$FREE: 7 manga books, Manga Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, The Tempest, A MidSummer Night's Dream (EV:$9.95 price tag for 4 of them, $10.95 price tag for 3 of them)

 

$FREE: wig, blonde with darker streaks, the lady called it a "Miley Cyris" wig (EV:$5.85)

  

[syn. Santalum ellipticum var. littorale, Santalum littorale]

ʻIliahialoʻe, Lāʻau ʻala or Coast sandalwood

Santalaceae (sandalwood family)

Endemic to the Hawaiian Islands

Makapuʻu, Oʻahu

 

Flowers

www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/31356488054/in/photostream/

 

Though early Hawaiians may not have used sandalwood extensively, it was still valued.

 

The fragrant heartwood and bark of ʻiliahialoʻe was pounded to scent the bad odor of new kapa (tapa), and when added with coconut oil the would water proof the material.

 

One older source (Charles Gaudichaud, 1819) states that Hawaiians "used all fragrant plants, all flowers and even colored fruits" for lei making. The red or yellow were indicative of divine and chiefly rank; the purple flowers and fruit, or with fragrance, were associated with divinity. Because of their long-standing place in oral tradition, the leaves, new leaves (liko) and flowers of ʻiliahialoʻe were likely used for lei making by early Hawaiians, even though there are no written sources.

 

Medicinally, the leaves were used as a shampoo for dandruff and head lice; and a drink from powdered material for male and female sex organs or "for sores of long duration."

 

Sometimes used to make ʻūkēkē or musical bow.

 

Occasionally, it used as firewood.

 

Etymology

The generic name Santalum is derived from santalon, the Greek name for sandalwood.

 

The specific epithet ellipticum is from the Latin ellipticus, oblong with rounded ends, in reference the shape of the leaves of this species.

 

nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Santalum_ellipticum

Beautiful long hair brunette woman with beauty hairstyle female model

Two things happened: 1.) I took a photo before 10pm, using natural light, and 2.) Barack Obama was inaugurated. It was a very good day.

 

Southern Pacific Harriman Dining Car

Sitting is storage.

 

Benched in a undisclosed location

Various yardsale booty.

 

Blockbuster Movie Game board game, Movie Game board game, brush, candy, carpet cleaner, glue, gyroscope, jarts, lawn darts, light, speaker, vinegar.

 

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

 

May 2, 2015.

  

... Read my blog at ClintJCL at wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL at wordpress.com

 

... Read my yard sale-related blogposts at clintjcl dot wordpress dot com/category/yard-sales/

  

BACKSTORY: Got up around 8:50AM, made it out driving by ~9:15 and went out until 2:27PM for a total of 5.25 hours. Spent $60.55 plus ~$10.66 gas for 40.0 miles of driving (14 mpg @ $3.73/G), for a total cost of $71.21. We drove to 24 yard sales, stopping at 15 (62%) of them. We made 44 purchases (69 items) for a total estimated value of $814.81, leading to a profit/savings of $743.60. So in essence, we multiplied our $71.21 investment by 11.44X. (Also, if you think about it, the profit counts for even more when you consider that we have to earn ~$900 on the job, pre-tax, in order to take home the $789 in cash that we saved. How long does $900 of disposable income take to earn, vs the 5.25 hrs we spent here?) Anyway, this works out to a *post-tax* "wage" of $124.26/hr as a couple or $62.13/hr per person.

 

THE TAKE:

 

$5.00: lawn darts, Regent "Slider" Jarts, model 73929, in box, part no. 01-73927, Regent Sports Corporation, Hauppauge, NY 11787 (EV:$100)

 

$5.00: (8) generic folding chairs (EV:$11.99)

 

$5.00: ottoman, leather, 18.5x18.5x16.5" high, with storage area (EV:$51.00)

 

$5.00: wooden multishelf unit, 30x24x5" deep, 7 shelves (EV:$29.00) (not quite this, but I can't find anything more exact)

 

$4.00: mechanic's creeper, on wheels (EV:$24.49)

 

$4.00: clock radio, Proton 320, Model #320, Serial # P32178259 (EV:$22.83)

 

$3.00: fan, adjusts from 33" high to 47" high, white, plastic, Galaxy, turns out it doesn't work. (EV:$32.69), but we are counting it as $0.00 since it didn't work.

 

$3.00: lamp, silver, metal clip on, 9" extension, model hbp1001c-109, 12746 SKU: 717-880 "DLC" 0-4633584495-7, date: 201203, E91675 (EV:$28.49)

 

$3.00: bag of hotel toiletries, 11 bottles of lotion (SolTerre), 17 bottles of shampoo (SolTerre), 16 bars of soap (SolTerre), 1 small container of Morton's salt and 1 small container of Morton's pepper (EV:$21.99)

 

$3.00: car tray, interior, Keller, 2 cup holders, 10x16"(EV:$27.48), it's not quite this, but I can't find a closer match.

 

$2.00: cordless vacuum, SharK-15.6 volts, sv7514 (EV:$28.99)

 

$2.00: mirror, magnifying, wall-mount, ConAir The Classique Collection #41742, 8" diameter, 5x magnification, tri-fold arm extends 12.5" from wall, outer arm swivals 360 degrees, (EV:$42.74)

 

$1.00: extension cord, white, 2-prong, 6ft, vendor# 64646 (EV:$5.32)

 

$1.00: guitar, First Act Discovery, missing 3 strings, FG 125, 31"x10" (EV:$1.04)

 

$1.00: game, roller dice, Sportcraft, model no. 11005, barcode 04473610053 (EV:$3.01 price tag)

 

$1.00: hanging metal decoration, 18 point metal star, welded, very sharp and pointy, 18" across (EV:$81.90)

 

$1.00: (6) bottles of hair spray, flourescent, Star Quality, 5 bottles 3.5 oz each (3 purple, 1 green, 1 silver), 1 bottle 3.0 oz (yellow) (EV:$0.40 each price tags)

 

$1.00: carpet freshener, Glade, 42.6 oz (EV:$5.29)

 

$1.00: toy, Sit 'n Spin, blue with cow face. PlaySkool, 2013 Hasbro (EV:$18.89)

 

$1.00: toy, airplane, some sort of hard plastic material, WestAir N360SE, 17.5x18.25" (EV:$5?)

 

$1.00: toy, airplane, some sort of hard plastic material, Piedmont Commuter, N332SB, 14.25x18.25(EV:$5?)

 

$1.00: pan, skillet, flat, square, Calphalon, 11x11 (EV:$19.95)

 

$1.00: game, Blockbuster Movie Game, plays with any movie (EV:$5.00)

 

$1.00: 2 speakers, 5" cubes, Optimus XTS 40, Cat no 40-1991, wire kind (EV:$13.26)

 

$1.00: picture frame, 15.5x12.5, wood trim (EV:$22.99)

 

$1.00: snow shovel, definitely needed after both of ours broke this past winter! (EV:$8.98)

 

$0.50: vinegar, White House, half a 64oz bottle (EV:$1.70 at Peapod)

 

$0.50: wrapping paper, 40" long roll (EV:$1.00)

 

$0.25: shirt, holographic, Disney Camp Rock, style #k2826t0005 (EV:$9.00) Not an exact match.

 

$0.25: toy, Simpsons, Lisa Simpson, Burger King, 2011, light up red chest, 3"hx2"w (EV:$5.99)

 

$0.25: toy, Adventure Time, Jake, McDonalds, with spring chest, 3.5"x2.25(EV:$1.00)

 

$0.25: instrument, recorder, pink clear plastic, Yamaha (EV:$4.97)

 

$0.25: toy, top, gyroscope, with plastic case, CBOCS (EV:$4.99 price tag)

 

$0.10: glue, Elmer's Wood Glue, 8 fl oz (EV:$1.99 for 4 fl oz so $3.98 for 8 fl oz)

 

$0.10: lint brush, Magic Brush, Helmac Products, yellow plastic handle (EV:$6.45)

 

$0.10: toy, matchbox car, Cheerios, Chex, 43, blue and yellow, 3"x1"(EV:$1.04)

 

$FREE: lamp, 28" high, 11" wide (EV:$5.00)

 

$FREE: carpet, for outside (EV:$12.00)

 

$FREE: Sit 'n Spin, green with red face, PlaySkool, 2004 Hasbro, requires batteries and has button but it doesn't seem to work (EV:$18.89)

 

$FREE: paint, white, maybe 1/4 of a gallon of Glidden Ultra Hide Latex Eggshell (EV:$2.99 rationale:$11.97 for a gallon)

 

$FREE: candy, Ice Chips Margarita, sweetened with xylitol, 1.76 oz, shrinkwrapped (EV:$27.95 for 6, or 4.65 each)

 

$FREE: jar, plastic, locking top, DynaWare 10x5.5" (EV:$10.19)

 

$FREE: 7 manga books, Manga Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, The Tempest, A MidSummer Night's Dream (EV:$9.95 price tag for 4 of them, $10.95 price tag for 3 of them)

 

$FREE: wig, blonde with darker streaks, the lady called it a "Miley Cyris" wig (EV:$5.85)

  

Benched in Southern California

I'll be flying around all day looking like I have dandruff.

Benched in Southern California

7060 Michigan AVE, Detroit, MI 48210

But for this camera, I became a collector. If this had been the 35S I bought in 2008, I might never have bought another rangefinder. It just arrived in the mail--the fourth 35S I've bought.

But, the Oly 35S I bought back in 2008, as a handier alternative to my EOS 1-v (Canon EOS 1-v, the Ford Crown Victoria of cameras), had petrified helicoid grease. It would not do.

Well, then I was off and running, looking for the perfect small rangefinder. Oly 35 RC; Konica C35, Oly 35 SP; Konica Auto S (never found one of those that wasn't ruined by ever ready case dandruff), Yashica Lynx 14 (small?)--then I discovered Yuri Boguslavsky and it was a Zorki 5, then a 4, then a NKVD, then a FED 2, and a Zorki 6, and finally a Leica IIIf. Then is was a Billy Record 6x9, and a Mamiya 6, and a Super Ikonta 532A, and then an entire system: The Mamiya 645 PRO with all the cool lenses.

Eventually, I had to admit I was just buying cameras out of curiosity--trying one out, then buying another. I even started buying cameras I never intended to use.

This 35S, though appears to be the perfect user. I have not tried it out yet, but it is everything I love about 1950's rangefinders. It has every bit as solid feel as a Leica--beefier, actually--it feels like it was machined out of a solid billet of 6961 T-1. And it has the short-throw focusing-lever I like, as well as a big bright parallax-corrected viewfinder, with a bright clear rangefinder patch. And no distracting electronics to tempt me.

Yes, if I had gotten this 35S in the first place, I never would have ended up with all these old cameras--oh who am I kidding?

Since ancient times up until Victorian, herbs steeped in vinegar have been used to tone skin and hair, as well as freshen garments and households. The cosmetic type of vinegar would be imbued with herbs that were more closely associated with beauty and skin conditions. This would then be diluted with rosewater, then a splash of the final mixture would be added to rinse water after washing the face, hair, or body. Depending on the herbs chosen, it helps cure everything from dandruff to acne, and makes an excellent mild toner, giving a healthy youthful glow to skin and hair. Used in the final washing rinse, it removes static and freshens clothes better than any commercial perfumed conditioner.

 

After much experimentation using as a guide both modern and period literature, the following concoction seems the best suited to current needs. A jar of up to 20 dried healing herbs such as rose petals, lavender, white willow, valerian, chickweed, elderflower, yarrow, comfrey root, lady's mantle, fennel, and witch hazel are chosen for their healing, anti-wrinkle, toning, scar reduction or other properties. White wine vinegar is then added and it is put in the sun for about two weeks to impart the herbal properties. Once filtered, an equal amount of organic rose hydrosol is added. The resulting mixture is used in dilution; a few splashes in water to restore the pH acid mantle to the skin after cleansing, esp. with harsh soaps, and leaves the skin softer and more youthful, the hair bouncer with less residue, and virtually eliminates dandruff. Use as little as a few tablespoons in the final rinse of the laundry. Naturally, it's far less likely to irritate or cause reactions in even the most sensitive person. Restores pH and acid mantle of skin. Cures eruptions. Safe for babies and children. Environmentally friendly with all natural, biodegradable ingredients!

 

100 ml goes for $8. Special orders with particular herbs for healing or scent is extra, as is the apple cider vinegar versions, and please allow more time for delivery. $2 off shipping with the purchase of two items. Three or more and shipping is free!

 

Scent is one of our strongest triggers. For the recreationists, I strongly recommend using authentic period fragrances on your garb and body. There is nothing like a period scent to help you and those around you feel like you've stepped back in time and are really living your persona!

Consume honey responsibly and reap the numerous health benefits of this liquid gold. Alleviates Allergies. All-Natural Energy Drink. Boosts Memory. Cough Suppressant. Sleep Aid. Treats Dandruff. Treats Wounds And Burns.

 

7 Days of Shooting – Week beginning 16th December Remedies: medical or natural. What do you turn to to feel better/stay healthy? Photograph anything from a cough bottle to a herb.

Modern Mechanix, August 1933

 

Source:

archive.org/details/modern-mechanix.1933.08/page/132/mode...

DLW 1074 leads CP train 939 across the Harpusville trestle during a dandruff storm.

questo piccolo tenerissimo micio è il nuovo gatto della mia migliore amica. sto conducendo la mia battaglia personale perchè lo chiami simba, perchè secondo me ci sta bene. (mi ha già scartato "kira", "forfora" e "gatto").

 

a presto altre foto :)

 

this cute kitten is my best friend's new cat. I hope she call him simba, 'cause I think it's a perfect name for him (she already said NO to "kira", "dandruff" and "cat").

 

more photos have to come :)

 

|| web site || tutorial blog (italian only) || twitter ||

 

© All rights reserved. Use without permission is illegal.

Illustration by Syd Hoff

A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. The two surviving species of camel are the dromedary, or one-humped camel (C. dromedarius), which inhabits the Middle East and the Horn of Africa; and the bactrian, or two-humped camel (C. bactrianus), which inhabits Central Asia. Both species have been domesticated; they provide milk, meat, hair for textiles or goods such as felted pouches, and are working animals with tasks ranging from human transport to bearing loads.

 

The term "camel" is derived via Latin and Greek (camelus and κάμηλος kamēlos respectively) from Hebrew or Phoenician gāmāl.

 

"Camel" is also used more broadly to describe any of the six camel-like mammals in the family Camelidae: the two true camels and the four New World camelids: the llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña of South America.

 

BIOLOGY

The average life expectancy of a camel is 40 to 50 years. A full-grown adult camel stands 1.85 m at the shoulder and 2.15 m at the hump. Camels can run at up to 65 km/h in short bursts and sustain speeds of up to 40 km/h. Bactrian camels weigh 300 to 1,000 kg and dromedaries 300 to 600 kg.

 

The male dromedary camel has in its throat an organ called a dulla, a large, inflatable sac he extrudes from his mouth when in rut to assert dominance and attract females. It resembles a long, swollen, pink tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth. Camels mate by having both male and female sitting on the ground, with the male mounting from behind. The male usually ejaculates three or four times within a single mating session. Camelids are the only ungulates to mate in a sitting position.

 

ECOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL ADAPTIONS

Camels do not directly store water in their humps as was once commonly believed. The humps are actually reservoirs of fatty tissue: concentrating body fat in their humps minimizes the insulating effect fat would have if distributed over the rest of their bodies, helping camels survive in hot climates. When this tissue is metabolized, it yields more than one gram of water for every gram of fat processed. This fat metabolization, while releasing energy, causes water to evaporate from the lungs during respiration (as oxygen is required for the metabolic process): overall, there is a net decrease in water.

 

Camels have a series of physiological adaptations that allow them to withstand long periods of time without any external source of water. Unlike other mammals, their red blood cells are oval rather than circular in shape. This facilitates the flow of red blood cells during dehydration and makes them better at withstanding high osmotic variation without rupturing when drinking large amounts of water: a 600 kg camel can drink 200 L of water in three minutes.

 

Camels are able to withstand changes in body temperature and water consumption that would kill most other animals. Their temperature ranges from 34 °C at dawn and steadily increases to 40 °C by sunset, before they cool off at night again. Maintaining the brain temperature within certain limits is critical for animals; to assist this, camels have a rete mirabile, a complex of arteries and veins lying very close to each other which utilizes countercurrent blood flow to cool blood flowing to the brain. Camels rarely sweat, even when ambient temperatures reach 49 °C Any sweat that does occur evaporates at the skin level rather than at the surface of their coat; the heat of vaporization therefore comes from body heat rather than ambient heat. Camels can withstand losing 25% of their body weight to sweating, whereas most other mammals can withstand only about 12–14% dehydration before cardiac failure results from circulatory disturbance.

 

When the camel exhales, water vapor becomes trapped in their nostrils and is reabsorbed into the body as a means to conserve water. Camels eating green herbage can ingest sufficient moisture in milder conditions to maintain their bodies' hydrated state without the need for drinking.

 

The camels' thick coats insulate them from the intense heat radiated from desert sand; a shorn camel must sweat 50% more to avoid overheating. During the summer the coat becomes lighter in color, reflecting light as well as helping avoid sunburn. The camel's long legs help by keeping its body farther from the ground, which can heat up to 70 °C. Dromedaries have a pad of thick tissue over the sternum called the pedestal. When the animal lies down in a sternal recumbent position, the pedestal raises the body from the hot surface and allows cooling air to pass under the body.

 

Camels' mouths have a thick leathery lining, allowing them to chew thorny desert plants. Long eyelashes and ear hairs, together with nostrils that can close, form a barrier against sand. If sand gets lodged in their eyes, they can dislodge it using their transparent third eyelid. The camels' gait and widened feet help them move without sinking into the sand.

 

The kidneys and intestines of a camel are very efficient at reabsorbing water. Camel urine comes out as a thick syrup, and camel feces are so dry that they do not require drying when the Bedouins use them to fuel fires.

 

Camels' immune system differs from those of other mammals. Normally, the Y-shaped antibody molecules consist of two heavy (or long) chains along the length of the Y, and two light (or short) chains at each tip of the Y. Camels, in addition to these, also have antibodies made of only two heavy chains, a trait that makes them smaller and more durable. These "heavy-chain-only" antibodies, discovered in 1993, are thought to have developed 50 million years ago, after camelids split from ruminants and pigs.

 

GENETICS

The karyotypes of different camelid species have been studied earlier by many groups, but no agreement on chromosome nomenclature of camelids has been reached. A 2007 study flow sorted camel chromosomes, building on the fact that camels have 37 pairs of chromosomes (2n=74), and found that the karyotime consisted of one metacentric, three submetacentric, and 32 acrocentric autosomes. The Y is a small metacentric chromosome, while the X is a large metacentric chromosome.The hybrid camel, a hybrid between Bactrian and dromedary camels, has one hump, though it has an indentation 4–12 cm deep that divides the front from the back. The hybrid is 2.15 m at the shoulder and 2.32 m tall at the hump. It weighs an average of 650 kg and can carry around 400 to 450 kg, which is more than either the dromedary or Bactrian can. According to molecular data, the New World and Old World camelids diverged 11 million years ago. In spite of this, these species can still hybridize and produce fertile offspring. The cama is a camel–llama hybrid bred by scientists who wanted to see how closely related the parent species were. Scientists collected semen from a camel via an artificial vagina and inseminated a llama after stimulating ovulation with gonadotrophin injections. The cama has ears halfway between the length of camel and llama ears, no hump, longer legs than the llama, and partially cloven hooves. According to cama breeder Lulu Skidmore, cama have "the fleece of the llamas" and "the strength and patience of the camel". Like the mule, camas are sterile, despite both parents having the same number of chromosomes.

 

EVOLUTION

The earliest known camel, called Protylopus, lived in North America 40 to 50 million years ago (during the Eocene). It was about the size of a rabbit and lived in the open woodlands of what is now South Dakota. By 35 million years ago, the Poebrotherium was the size of a goat and had many more traits similar to camels and llamas. The hoofed Stenomylus, which walked on the tips of its toes, also existed around this time, and the long-necked Aepycamelus evolved in the Miocene.

 

The direct ancestor of all modern camels, Procamelus, existed in the upper Miocone and lower Pliocene. Around 3–5 million years ago, the North American Camelidae spread to South America via the Isthmus of Panama, where they gave rise to guanacos and related animals, and to Asia via the Bering land bridge. Surprising finds of fossil Paracamelus on Ellesmere Island beginning in 2006 in the high Canadian Arctic indicate the dromedary is descended from a larger, boreal browser whose hump may have evolved as an adaptation in a cold climate. This creature is estimated to have stood around nine feet tall.

 

The last camel native to North America was Camelops hesternus, which vanished along with horses, short-faced bears, mammoths and mastodons, ground sloths, sabertooth cats, and many other megafauna, coinciding with the migration of humans from Asia.

 

DOMESTICATION

Most camels surviving today are domesticated. Along with many other megafauna in North America, the original wild camels were wiped out during the spread of Native Americans from Asia into North America, 12,000 to 10,000 years ago. The only wild camels left are the Bactrian camels of the Gobi Desert.

 

Like the horse, before their extinction in their native land, camels spread across the Bering land bridge, moving the opposite direction from the Asian immigration to America, to survive in the Old World and eventually be domesticated and spread globally by humans.

 

Dromedaries may have first been domesticated by humans in Somalia and southern Arabia, around 3,000 BC, the Bactrian in central Asia around 2,500 BC, as at Shar-i Sokhta (also known as the Burnt City), Iran.

 

Discussions concerning camel domestication in Mesopotamia are often related to mentions of camels in the Hebrew Bible. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J for instance mentions that "In accord with patriarchal traditions, cylinder seals from Middle Bronze Age Mesopotamia showed riders seated upon camels."

 

Martin Heide's 2010 work on the domestication of the camel tentatively concludes that the bactrian camel was domesticated by at least the middle of the third millennium somewhere east of the Zagros Mountains, then moving into Mesopotamia, and suggests that mentions of camels "in the patriarchal narratives may refer, at least in some places, to the Bactrian camel." while noting that the camel is not mentioned in relationship to Canaan.

 

Recent excavations in the Timna Valley by Lidar Sapir-Hen and Erez Ben-Yosef discovered what may be the earliest domestic camel bones found in Israel or even outside the Arabian peninsula, dating to around 930 BCE. This garnered considerable media coverage as it was described as evidence that the stories of Abraham, Joseph, Jacob and Esau were written after this time.

 

The existence of camels in Mesopotamia but not in Israel is not a new idea. According to an article in Time Magazine, the historian Richard Bulliet wrote in his 1975 book "The Camel and the Wheel" that "the occasional mention of camels in patriarchal narratives does not mean that the domestic camels were common in the Holy Land at that period." The archaeologist William F. Albright writing even earlier saw camels in the Bible as an anachronism. The official report by Sapir-Hen and Ben-Joseph notes that "The introduction of the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) as a pack animal to the southern Levant signifies a crucial juncture in the history of the region; it substantially facilitated trade across the vast deserts of Arabia, promoting both economic and social change (e.g., Kohler 1984; Borowski 1998: 112-116; Jasmin 2005). This, together with the depiction of camels in the Patriarchal narrative, has generated extensive discussion regarding the date of the earliest domestic camel in the southern Levant (and beyond) (e.g., Albright 1949: 207; Epstein 1971: 558-584; Bulliet 1975; Zarins 1989; Köhler-Rollefson 1993; Uerpmann and Uerpmann 2002; Jasmin 2005; 2006; Heide 2010; Rosen and Saidel 2010; Grigson 2012). Most scholars today agree that the dromedary was exploited as a pack animal sometime in the early Iron Age (not before the 12th century BCE)" and concludes that "Current data from copper smelting sites of the Aravah Valley enable us to pinpoint the introduction of domestic camels to the southern Levant more precisely based on stratigraphic contexts associated with an extensive suite of radiocarbon dates. The data indicate that this event occurred not earlier than the last third of the 10th century BCE and most probably during this time. The coincidence of this event with a major reorganization of the copper industry of the region - attributed to the results of the campaign of Pharaoh Shoshenq I - raises the possibility that the two were connected, and that camels were introduced as part of the efforts to improve efficiency by facilitating trade."

 

MILITARY USES

By at least 1200 BC, the first camel saddles had appeared, and Bactrian camels could be ridden. The first saddle was positioned to the back of the camel, and control of the Bactrian camel was exercised by means of a stick. However, between 500–100 BC, Bactrian camels attained military use. New saddles, which were inflexible and bent, were put over the humps and divided the rider's weight over the animal. In the seventh century BC, the military Arabian saddle appeared, which improved the saddle design again slightly.

 

Camel cavalries have been used in wars throughout Africa, the Middle East, and into modern-day Border Security Force of India (though as of July 2012, the BSF has planned the replacement of camels with ATVs). The first use of camel cavalries was in the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC. Armies have also used camels as freight animals instead of horses and mules.

In the East Roman Empire, the Romans used auxiliary forces known as dromedarii, whom they recruited in desert provinces. The camels were used mostly in combat because of their ability to scare off horses at close ranges (horses are afraid of the camels' scent), a quality famously employed by the Achaemenid Persians when fighting Lydia in the Battle of Thymbra.

 

19th and 20th CENTURIES

The United States Army established the U.S. Camel Corps, which was stationed in California in the late 19th century. One may still see stables at the Benicia Arsenal in Benicia, California, where they nowadays serve as the Benicia Historical Museum. Though the experimental use of camels was seen as a success (John B. Floyd, Secretary of War in 1858, recommended that funds be allocated towards obtaining a thousand more camels), the outbreak of the American Civil War saw the end of the Camel Corps: Texas became part of the Confederacy, and most of the camels were left to wander away into the desert.

 

France created a méhariste camel corps in 1912 as part of the Armée d'Afrique in the Sahara in order to exercise greater control over the camel-riding Tuareg and Arab insurgents, as previous efforts to defeat them on foot had failed. The camel-mounted units remained in service until the end of French rule over Algeria in 1962.

 

In 1916, the British created the Imperial Camel Corps. It was originally used to fight the Senussi, but was later used in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I. The Imperial Camel Corps comprised infantrymen mounted on camels for movement across desert, though they dismounted at battle sites and fought on foot. After July 1918, the Corps began to become run down, receiving no new reinforcements, and was formally disbanded in 1919.

 

In World War I, the British Army also created the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps, which consisted of a group of Egyptian camel drivers and their camels. The Corps supported British war operations in Sinai, Palestine, and Syria by transporting supplies to the troops.

 

The Somaliland Camel Corps was created by colonial authorities in British Somaliland in 1912; it was disbanded in 1944.

 

Bactrian camels were used by Romanian forces during World War II in the Caucasian region.

 

The Bikaner Camel Corps of British India fought alongside the British Indian Army in World Wars I and II.

 

The Tropas Nómadas (Nomad Troops) were an auxiliary regiment of Sahrawi tribesmen serving in the colonial army in Spanish Sahara (today Western Sahara). Operational from the 1930s until the end of the Spanish presence in the territory in 1975, the Tropas Nómadas were equipped with small arms and led by Spanish officers. The unit guarded outposts and sometimes conducted patrols on camelback.

 

FOOD USES

DAIRY

Camel milk is a staple food of desert nomad tribes and is sometimes considered a meal in and of itself; a nomad can live on only camel milk for almost a month. Camel milk is rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins, and immunoglobulins; compared to cow's milk, it is lower in fat and lactose, and higher in potassium, iron, and vitamin C. Bedouins believe the curative powers of camel milk are enhanced if the camel's diet consists of certain desert plants. Camel milk can readily be made into a drinkable yogurt, as well as butter or cheese, though the yields for cheese tend to be low.

 

Camel milk cannot be made into butter by the traditional churning method. It can be made if it is soured first, churned, and a clarifying agent is then added. Until recently, camel milk could not be made into camel cheese because rennet was unable to coagulate the milk proteins to allow the collection of curds. Developing less wasteful uses of the milk, the FAO commissioned Professor J.P. Ramet of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie et des Industries Alimentaires, who was able to produce curdling by the addition of calcium phosphate and vegetable rennet. The cheese produced from this process has low levels of cholesterol and is easy to digest, even for the lactose intolerant. The sale of camel cheese is limited owing to the small output of the few dairies producing camel cheese and the absence of camel cheese in local (West African) markets. Cheese imports from countries that traditionally breed camels are difficult to obtain due to restrictions on dairy imports from these regions.

 

Additionally, camel milk has been made into ice cream in a Netherlands camel farm.

 

MEAT

A camel carcass can provide a substantial amount of meat. The male dromedary carcass can weigh 300–400 kg, while the carcass of a male Bactrian can weigh up to 650 kg. The carcass of a female dromedary weighs less than the male, ranging between 250 and 350 kg. The brisket, ribs and loin are among the preferred parts, and the hump is considered a delicacy. The hump contains "white and sickly fat", which can be used to make the khli (preserved meat) of mutton, beef, or camel. Camel meat is reported to taste like coarse beef, but older camels can prove to be very tough, although camel meat becomes more tender the more it is cooked. The Abu Dhabi Officers' Club serves a camel burger mixed with beef or lamb fat in order to improve the texture and taste. In Karachi, Pakistan, some restaurants prepare nihari from camel meat. In Syria and Egypt, there are specialist camel butchers.

 

Camel meat has been eaten for centuries. It has been recorded by ancient Greek writers as an available dish at banquets in ancient Persia, usually roasted whole. The ancient Roman emperor Heliogabalus enjoyed camel's heel.[31] Camel meat is still eaten in certain regions, including Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, and other arid regions where alternative forms of protein may be limited or where camel meat has had a long cultural history. Camel blood is also consumable, as is the case among pastoralists in northern Kenya, where camel blood is drunk with milk and acts as a key source of iron, vitamin D, salts and minerals. Camel meat is also occasionally found in Australian cuisine: for example, a camel lasagna is available in Alice Springs.

 

A 2005 report issued jointly by the Saudi Ministry of Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention details cases of human bubonic plague resulting from the ingestion of raw camel liver.

 

RELIGION

ISLAM

Camel meat is halal for Muslims. However, according to some Islamic schools of thought, a state of impurity is brought on by the consumption of it. Consequently, these schools hold that Muslims must perform wudhu (ablution) before the next time they pray after eating camel meat.

 

Also, some Islamic schools of thought consider it haraam for a Muslim to perform salat in places where camels lie, as it is said to be a dwelling place of shaytan.

 

According to Suni ahadith collected by Bukhari and Muslim, Muhammad ordered a certain group of people to drink camel milk and urine as a medicine. However, according to Abū Ḥanīfa, the drinking of camel urine, while not forbidden (ḥaram), is disliked (makrūh) in Islam.

 

Camel urine is sold as traditional medicine in shops in Saudi Arabia. The Sunni scholar Muhammad Al-Munajjid's IslamQA.info recommends camel urine as beneficial to curing certain diseases and to human health and cited Ahadith and scientific studies as justification. King Abdulaziz University researcher Dr. Faten Abdel-Rajman Khorshid has claimed that cancer and other diseases could be treated with camel urine as recommended by the Prophet. The United Arab Emirates "Arab Science and Technology Foundation" reported that cancer could be treated with camel urine. Camel urine was also prescribed as a treatment by Zaghloul El-Naggar, a religious scholar. Camel urine is the only urine which is permitted to be drunk according to the Hanbali madhhab of Sunni Islam. The World Health Organization said that camel urine consumption may be a factor in the spread of the MERS virus in Saudi Arabia. The Gulf Times writer Ahmad al-Sayyed wrote that various afflictions are dealt with camel urine by people. Dandruff, scalp ailments, hair, sores, and wounds were recommended to be treated with camel urine by Ibn Sina. Arab American University Professor of Cell Biology and Immunology Bashar Saad (PhD) along with Omar Said (PhD) wrote that medicinal use of camel urine is approved of and promoted by Islam since it was recommended by the prophet. A test on mice found that cytotoxic effects similar to cyclophosphamide were induced on bone marrow by camel urine. Besides for consumption as a medicinal drink, camel urine is believed to help treat hair. Bites from insects were warded off with camel urine, which also served as a shampoo. Camel urine is also used to help treat asthma, infections, treat hair, sores, hair growth and boost libido.

 

Several Sunni Ahadith mention drinking camel urine. Some Shia criticized Wahhabis for camel urine treatment. Shia scholars also recommend the medicinal use of camel urine. Shia Hadith on Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq reported that shortness of breath (asthma) was treated with camel urine. Shia Marja Ayatollah Sistani said that for medicinal purposes only, sheep, cow, and camel urine can be drunk.

 

JUDAISM

According to Jewish tradition, camel meat and milk are not kosher. Camels possess only one of the two kosher criteria; although they chew their cud, they do not possess cloven hooves:

 

Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only part the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you.

— Leviticus 11:4

 

DISTRIBUTION ANDNUMBERS

There are around 14 million camels alive as of 2010, with 90% being dromedaries. Dromedaries alive today are domesticated animals (mostly living in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Maghreb, Middle East and South Asia). The Horn region alone has the largest concentration of camels in the world, where the dromedaries constitute an important part of local nomadic life. They provide nomadic people in Somalia (which has the largest camel herd in the world) and Ethiopia with milk, food, and transportation.

 

The Bactrian camel is, as of 2010, reduced to an estimated 1.4 million animals, most of which are domesticated. The only truly wild Bactrian camels, of which there are less than one thousand, are thought to inhabit the Gobi Desert in China and Mongolia.

 

The largest population of feral camels is in Australia. There are around 700,000 feral dromedary camels in central parts of Australia, descended from those introduced as a method of transport in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This population is growing about 8% per year. Representatives of the Australian government have culled more than 100,000 of the animals in part because the camels use too much of the limited resources needed by sheep farmers.

 

A small population of introduced camels, dromedaries and Bactrians, wandered through Southwest United States after having been imported in the 1800s as part of the U.S. Camel Corps experiment. When the project ended, they were used as draft animals in mines and escaped or were released. Twenty-five U.S. camels were bought and imported to Canada during the Cariboo Gold Rush.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Found inside the bathroom of an abandoned house.

Hurt my leg at the beginning of a 7.5 mile hike trackside.

I just kept going with a towel tied around it.

 

Cajon Pass, CA

Since ancient times up until Victorian, herbs steeped in vinegar have been used to tone skin and hair, as well as freshen garments and households. The cosmetic type of vinegar would be imbued with herbs that were more closely associated with beauty and skin conditions. This would then be diluted with rosewater, then a splash of the final mixture would be added to rinse water after washing the face, hair, or body. Depending on the herbs chosen, it helps cure everything from dandruff to acne, and makes an excellent mild toner, giving a healthy youthful glow to skin and hair. Used in the final washing rinse, it removes static and freshens clothes better than any commercial perfumed conditioner.

 

After much experimentation using as a guide both modern and period literature, the following concoction seems the best suited to current needs. A jar of up to 20 dried healing herbs such as rose petals, lavender, white willow, valerian, chickweed, elderflower, yarrow, comfrey root, lady's mantle, fennel, and witch hazel are chosen for their healing, anti-wrinkle, toning, scar reduction or other properties. White wine vinegar is then added and it is put in the sun for about two weeks to impart the herbal properties. Once filtered, an equal amount of organic lavender hydrosol is added. The resulting mixture is used in dilution; a few splashes in water to restore the pH acid mantle to the skin after cleansing, esp. with harsh soaps, and leaves the skin softer and more youthful, the hair bouncer with less residue, and virtually eliminates dandruff. Use as little as a few tablespoons in the final rinse of the laundry. Naturally, it's far less likely to irritate or cause reactions in even the most sensitive person. Restores pH and acid mantle of skin. Cures eruptions. Safe for babies and children. Environmentally friendly with all natural, biodegradable ingredients!

 

100 ml goes for $8. Special orders with particular herbs for healing or scent is extra, as is the apple cider vinegar versions, and please allow more time for delivery.

$2 off shipping with the purchase of two items. Three or more and shipping is free!

 

Scent is one of our strongest triggers. For the recreationists, I strongly recommend using authentic period fragrances on your garb and body. There is nothing like a period scent to help you and those around you feel like you've stepped back in time and are really living your persona!

L515 departs Markham Yard for Kirk with a 6 engine lashup in an April snowfall. April 2024

Emily Oaks Nature Center

Skokie IL

This window was on some fairly large building that had been a hotel or an inn or something, on the main drag in Mt. Hope. at some point, the building had become a haunted house --- not a real haunted house, just one of those Halloween do-hickeys. this is the good side of the building --- i ended up behind the building at one point (i spend a lot of time in my travels getting lost, going down side streets, turning around, backing up) and there was, literally, about a foot of brick debris on the back side, all along the base of the building, like the building had a bad case of brick dandruff. in front there was a sign on the door that stated the building was occupied as a private dwelling, but it was hard to see how that could be.

 

do i have a prejudice against West Virginia? i don't think so --- many of my teachers had been educated there. i always was under the impression that my school district in Ohio was too poor to afford the better educated Ohio-trained teachers. i think all of my football coaches came from West Virginia --- those guys got to teach like physics and social studies and stuff.

 

it's a beautiful state, in places, is West Virginia --- don't get me wrong. but if you have an image in your head of a broken-down, trashed out, coal tipple sort of place, you won't have to look far to find your cliche images reaffirmed. i saw more Rebel battle flag front license plates in West Virginia than i've seen anywhere else. the redneck quotient is higher even than South Carolina (i don't get out to Alabama so much --- maybe they've got more). i saw a guy that was the spitting image of Billy from ZZ Top. i don't think you can get a whole lot more rednecky than that. and this, of course, is the state that broke off from Virginia rather than take up arms for the Confederate cause. heck, now they'd be leading the charge.

 

they don't so much have trailer parks in West Virgina (at least parts of it), as they do have the odd wood frame dwelling here and there among the ubiquitous mobile homes. you'll look up a muddy lane of some little hollow, and there will be six, eight, ten mobile homes, clinging impossibly to the hillsides. if you've got a double-wide some places in West Virginia, you're living in luxury. i bet those fellows who drive the rigs and deliver the mobile homes have some epic war stories about the most improbable, and difficult, home installation they've ever accomplished.

 

i can't wait to go back, to be honest. there's got to be a mother lode of good snapshots out there somewhere. i didn't find it this time. and the other thing i couldn't find was a Starbucks. Google said Charleston (the state capitol, for Christ sake) had the sum total of two of them (heck, Concord has three), but I couldn't find either one of them. i did find some good food in Charleston, at Bluegrass Kitchen. they had a fried calamari appetizer (huge portion) with an almond/olive salad that was delicious.

 

I'll leave you with this because i love you.

 

late nights

 

Shirokanedai, Tokyo, Japan

9/2016

Just found these photos I took of this now shuttered Kmart in downtown Battle Creek that I previously forgotten to upload.

Took this capture on blacky while he was relaxing on the bed... The sun was shining through the window... He's got alot of dandruff at the moment.. I try and brush it off but more appear... His father calls them " FISH FLAKES" lol... xxxx Michelle xxxxx Blacky and xxxx Champaz..

A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. The two surviving species of camel are the dromedary, or one-humped camel (C. dromedarius), which inhabits the Middle East and the Horn of Africa; and the bactrian, or two-humped camel (C. bactrianus), which inhabits Central Asia. Both species have been domesticated; they provide milk, meat, hair for textiles or goods such as felted pouches, and are working animals with tasks ranging from human transport to bearing loads.

 

The term "camel" is derived via Latin and Greek (camelus and κάμηλος kamēlos respectively) from Hebrew or Phoenician gāmāl.

 

"Camel" is also used more broadly to describe any of the six camel-like mammals in the family Camelidae: the two true camels and the four New World camelids: the llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña of South America.

 

BIOLOGY

The average life expectancy of a camel is 40 to 50 years. A full-grown adult camel stands 1.85 m at the shoulder and 2.15 m at the hump. Camels can run at up to 65 km/h in short bursts and sustain speeds of up to 40 km/h. Bactrian camels weigh 300 to 1,000 kg and dromedaries 300 to 600 kg.

 

The male dromedary camel has in its throat an organ called a dulla, a large, inflatable sac he extrudes from his mouth when in rut to assert dominance and attract females. It resembles a long, swollen, pink tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth. Camels mate by having both male and female sitting on the ground, with the male mounting from behind. The male usually ejaculates three or four times within a single mating session. Camelids are the only ungulates to mate in a sitting position.

 

ECOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL ADAPTIONS

Camels do not directly store water in their humps as was once commonly believed. The humps are actually reservoirs of fatty tissue: concentrating body fat in their humps minimizes the insulating effect fat would have if distributed over the rest of their bodies, helping camels survive in hot climates. When this tissue is metabolized, it yields more than one gram of water for every gram of fat processed. This fat metabolization, while releasing energy, causes water to evaporate from the lungs during respiration (as oxygen is required for the metabolic process): overall, there is a net decrease in water.

 

Camels have a series of physiological adaptations that allow them to withstand long periods of time without any external source of water. Unlike other mammals, their red blood cells are oval rather than circular in shape. This facilitates the flow of red blood cells during dehydration and makes them better at withstanding high osmotic variation without rupturing when drinking large amounts of water: a 600 kg camel can drink 200 L of water in three minutes.

 

Camels are able to withstand changes in body temperature and water consumption that would kill most other animals. Their temperature ranges from 34 °C at dawn and steadily increases to 40 °C by sunset, before they cool off at night again. Maintaining the brain temperature within certain limits is critical for animals; to assist this, camels have a rete mirabile, a complex of arteries and veins lying very close to each other which utilizes countercurrent blood flow to cool blood flowing to the brain. Camels rarely sweat, even when ambient temperatures reach 49 °C Any sweat that does occur evaporates at the skin level rather than at the surface of their coat; the heat of vaporization therefore comes from body heat rather than ambient heat. Camels can withstand losing 25% of their body weight to sweating, whereas most other mammals can withstand only about 12–14% dehydration before cardiac failure results from circulatory disturbance.

 

When the camel exhales, water vapor becomes trapped in their nostrils and is reabsorbed into the body as a means to conserve water. Camels eating green herbage can ingest sufficient moisture in milder conditions to maintain their bodies' hydrated state without the need for drinking.

 

The camels' thick coats insulate them from the intense heat radiated from desert sand; a shorn camel must sweat 50% more to avoid overheating. During the summer the coat becomes lighter in color, reflecting light as well as helping avoid sunburn. The camel's long legs help by keeping its body farther from the ground, which can heat up to 70 °C. Dromedaries have a pad of thick tissue over the sternum called the pedestal. When the animal lies down in a sternal recumbent position, the pedestal raises the body from the hot surface and allows cooling air to pass under the body.

 

Camels' mouths have a thick leathery lining, allowing them to chew thorny desert plants. Long eyelashes and ear hairs, together with nostrils that can close, form a barrier against sand. If sand gets lodged in their eyes, they can dislodge it using their transparent third eyelid. The camels' gait and widened feet help them move without sinking into the sand.

 

The kidneys and intestines of a camel are very efficient at reabsorbing water. Camel urine comes out as a thick syrup, and camel feces are so dry that they do not require drying when the Bedouins use them to fuel fires.

 

Camels' immune system differs from those of other mammals. Normally, the Y-shaped antibody molecules consist of two heavy (or long) chains along the length of the Y, and two light (or short) chains at each tip of the Y. Camels, in addition to these, also have antibodies made of only two heavy chains, a trait that makes them smaller and more durable. These "heavy-chain-only" antibodies, discovered in 1993, are thought to have developed 50 million years ago, after camelids split from ruminants and pigs.

 

GENETICS

The karyotypes of different camelid species have been studied earlier by many groups, but no agreement on chromosome nomenclature of camelids has been reached. A 2007 study flow sorted camel chromosomes, building on the fact that camels have 37 pairs of chromosomes (2n=74), and found that the karyotime consisted of one metacentric, three submetacentric, and 32 acrocentric autosomes. The Y is a small metacentric chromosome, while the X is a large metacentric chromosome.The hybrid camel, a hybrid between Bactrian and dromedary camels, has one hump, though it has an indentation 4–12 cm deep that divides the front from the back. The hybrid is 2.15 m at the shoulder and 2.32 m tall at the hump. It weighs an average of 650 kg and can carry around 400 to 450 kg, which is more than either the dromedary or Bactrian can. According to molecular data, the New World and Old World camelids diverged 11 million years ago. In spite of this, these species can still hybridize and produce fertile offspring. The cama is a camel–llama hybrid bred by scientists who wanted to see how closely related the parent species were. Scientists collected semen from a camel via an artificial vagina and inseminated a llama after stimulating ovulation with gonadotrophin injections. The cama has ears halfway between the length of camel and llama ears, no hump, longer legs than the llama, and partially cloven hooves. According to cama breeder Lulu Skidmore, cama have "the fleece of the llamas" and "the strength and patience of the camel". Like the mule, camas are sterile, despite both parents having the same number of chromosomes.

 

EVOLUTION

The earliest known camel, called Protylopus, lived in North America 40 to 50 million years ago (during the Eocene). It was about the size of a rabbit and lived in the open woodlands of what is now South Dakota. By 35 million years ago, the Poebrotherium was the size of a goat and had many more traits similar to camels and llamas. The hoofed Stenomylus, which walked on the tips of its toes, also existed around this time, and the long-necked Aepycamelus evolved in the Miocene.

 

The direct ancestor of all modern camels, Procamelus, existed in the upper Miocone and lower Pliocene. Around 3–5 million years ago, the North American Camelidae spread to South America via the Isthmus of Panama, where they gave rise to guanacos and related animals, and to Asia via the Bering land bridge. Surprising finds of fossil Paracamelus on Ellesmere Island beginning in 2006 in the high Canadian Arctic indicate the dromedary is descended from a larger, boreal browser whose hump may have evolved as an adaptation in a cold climate. This creature is estimated to have stood around nine feet tall.

 

The last camel native to North America was Camelops hesternus, which vanished along with horses, short-faced bears, mammoths and mastodons, ground sloths, sabertooth cats, and many other megafauna, coinciding with the migration of humans from Asia.

 

DOMESTICATION

Most camels surviving today are domesticated. Along with many other megafauna in North America, the original wild camels were wiped out during the spread of Native Americans from Asia into North America, 12,000 to 10,000 years ago. The only wild camels left are the Bactrian camels of the Gobi Desert.

 

Like the horse, before their extinction in their native land, camels spread across the Bering land bridge, moving the opposite direction from the Asian immigration to America, to survive in the Old World and eventually be domesticated and spread globally by humans.

 

Dromedaries may have first been domesticated by humans in Somalia and southern Arabia, around 3,000 BC, the Bactrian in central Asia around 2,500 BC, as at Shar-i Sokhta (also known as the Burnt City), Iran.

 

Discussions concerning camel domestication in Mesopotamia are often related to mentions of camels in the Hebrew Bible. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J for instance mentions that "In accord with patriarchal traditions, cylinder seals from Middle Bronze Age Mesopotamia showed riders seated upon camels."

 

Martin Heide's 2010 work on the domestication of the camel tentatively concludes that the bactrian camel was domesticated by at least the middle of the third millennium somewhere east of the Zagros Mountains, then moving into Mesopotamia, and suggests that mentions of camels "in the patriarchal narratives may refer, at least in some places, to the Bactrian camel." while noting that the camel is not mentioned in relationship to Canaan.

 

Recent excavations in the Timna Valley by Lidar Sapir-Hen and Erez Ben-Yosef discovered what may be the earliest domestic camel bones found in Israel or even outside the Arabian peninsula, dating to around 930 BCE. This garnered considerable media coverage as it was described as evidence that the stories of Abraham, Joseph, Jacob and Esau were written after this time.

 

The existence of camels in Mesopotamia but not in Israel is not a new idea. According to an article in Time Magazine, the historian Richard Bulliet wrote in his 1975 book "The Camel and the Wheel" that "the occasional mention of camels in patriarchal narratives does not mean that the domestic camels were common in the Holy Land at that period." The archaeologist William F. Albright writing even earlier saw camels in the Bible as an anachronism. The official report by Sapir-Hen and Ben-Joseph notes that "The introduction of the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) as a pack animal to the southern Levant signifies a crucial juncture in the history of the region; it substantially facilitated trade across the vast deserts of Arabia, promoting both economic and social change (e.g., Kohler 1984; Borowski 1998: 112-116; Jasmin 2005). This, together with the depiction of camels in the Patriarchal narrative, has generated extensive discussion regarding the date of the earliest domestic camel in the southern Levant (and beyond) (e.g., Albright 1949: 207; Epstein 1971: 558-584; Bulliet 1975; Zarins 1989; Köhler-Rollefson 1993; Uerpmann and Uerpmann 2002; Jasmin 2005; 2006; Heide 2010; Rosen and Saidel 2010; Grigson 2012). Most scholars today agree that the dromedary was exploited as a pack animal sometime in the early Iron Age (not before the 12th century BCE)" and concludes that "Current data from copper smelting sites of the Aravah Valley enable us to pinpoint the introduction of domestic camels to the southern Levant more precisely based on stratigraphic contexts associated with an extensive suite of radiocarbon dates. The data indicate that this event occurred not earlier than the last third of the 10th century BCE and most probably during this time. The coincidence of this event with a major reorganization of the copper industry of the region - attributed to the results of the campaign of Pharaoh Shoshenq I - raises the possibility that the two were connected, and that camels were introduced as part of the efforts to improve efficiency by facilitating trade."

 

MILITARY USES

By at least 1200 BC, the first camel saddles had appeared, and Bactrian camels could be ridden. The first saddle was positioned to the back of the camel, and control of the Bactrian camel was exercised by means of a stick. However, between 500–100 BC, Bactrian camels attained military use. New saddles, which were inflexible and bent, were put over the humps and divided the rider's weight over the animal. In the seventh century BC, the military Arabian saddle appeared, which improved the saddle design again slightly.

 

Camel cavalries have been used in wars throughout Africa, the Middle East, and into modern-day Border Security Force of India (though as of July 2012, the BSF has planned the replacement of camels with ATVs). The first use of camel cavalries was in the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC. Armies have also used camels as freight animals instead of horses and mules.

In the East Roman Empire, the Romans used auxiliary forces known as dromedarii, whom they recruited in desert provinces. The camels were used mostly in combat because of their ability to scare off horses at close ranges (horses are afraid of the camels' scent), a quality famously employed by the Achaemenid Persians when fighting Lydia in the Battle of Thymbra.

 

19th and 20th CENTURIES

The United States Army established the U.S. Camel Corps, which was stationed in California in the late 19th century. One may still see stables at the Benicia Arsenal in Benicia, California, where they nowadays serve as the Benicia Historical Museum. Though the experimental use of camels was seen as a success (John B. Floyd, Secretary of War in 1858, recommended that funds be allocated towards obtaining a thousand more camels), the outbreak of the American Civil War saw the end of the Camel Corps: Texas became part of the Confederacy, and most of the camels were left to wander away into the desert.

 

France created a méhariste camel corps in 1912 as part of the Armée d'Afrique in the Sahara in order to exercise greater control over the camel-riding Tuareg and Arab insurgents, as previous efforts to defeat them on foot had failed. The camel-mounted units remained in service until the end of French rule over Algeria in 1962.

 

In 1916, the British created the Imperial Camel Corps. It was originally used to fight the Senussi, but was later used in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I. The Imperial Camel Corps comprised infantrymen mounted on camels for movement across desert, though they dismounted at battle sites and fought on foot. After July 1918, the Corps began to become run down, receiving no new reinforcements, and was formally disbanded in 1919.

 

In World War I, the British Army also created the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps, which consisted of a group of Egyptian camel drivers and their camels. The Corps supported British war operations in Sinai, Palestine, and Syria by transporting supplies to the troops.

 

The Somaliland Camel Corps was created by colonial authorities in British Somaliland in 1912; it was disbanded in 1944.

 

Bactrian camels were used by Romanian forces during World War II in the Caucasian region.

 

The Bikaner Camel Corps of British India fought alongside the British Indian Army in World Wars I and II.

 

The Tropas Nómadas (Nomad Troops) were an auxiliary regiment of Sahrawi tribesmen serving in the colonial army in Spanish Sahara (today Western Sahara). Operational from the 1930s until the end of the Spanish presence in the territory in 1975, the Tropas Nómadas were equipped with small arms and led by Spanish officers. The unit guarded outposts and sometimes conducted patrols on camelback.

 

FOOD USES

DAIRY

Camel milk is a staple food of desert nomad tribes and is sometimes considered a meal in and of itself; a nomad can live on only camel milk for almost a month. Camel milk is rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins, and immunoglobulins; compared to cow's milk, it is lower in fat and lactose, and higher in potassium, iron, and vitamin C. Bedouins believe the curative powers of camel milk are enhanced if the camel's diet consists of certain desert plants. Camel milk can readily be made into a drinkable yogurt, as well as butter or cheese, though the yields for cheese tend to be low.

 

Camel milk cannot be made into butter by the traditional churning method. It can be made if it is soured first, churned, and a clarifying agent is then added. Until recently, camel milk could not be made into camel cheese because rennet was unable to coagulate the milk proteins to allow the collection of curds. Developing less wasteful uses of the milk, the FAO commissioned Professor J.P. Ramet of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie et des Industries Alimentaires, who was able to produce curdling by the addition of calcium phosphate and vegetable rennet. The cheese produced from this process has low levels of cholesterol and is easy to digest, even for the lactose intolerant. The sale of camel cheese is limited owing to the small output of the few dairies producing camel cheese and the absence of camel cheese in local (West African) markets. Cheese imports from countries that traditionally breed camels are difficult to obtain due to restrictions on dairy imports from these regions.

 

Additionally, camel milk has been made into ice cream in a Netherlands camel farm.

 

MEAT

A camel carcass can provide a substantial amount of meat. The male dromedary carcass can weigh 300–400 kg, while the carcass of a male Bactrian can weigh up to 650 kg. The carcass of a female dromedary weighs less than the male, ranging between 250 and 350 kg. The brisket, ribs and loin are among the preferred parts, and the hump is considered a delicacy. The hump contains "white and sickly fat", which can be used to make the khli (preserved meat) of mutton, beef, or camel. Camel meat is reported to taste like coarse beef, but older camels can prove to be very tough, although camel meat becomes more tender the more it is cooked. The Abu Dhabi Officers' Club serves a camel burger mixed with beef or lamb fat in order to improve the texture and taste. In Karachi, Pakistan, some restaurants prepare nihari from camel meat. In Syria and Egypt, there are specialist camel butchers.

 

Camel meat has been eaten for centuries. It has been recorded by ancient Greek writers as an available dish at banquets in ancient Persia, usually roasted whole. The ancient Roman emperor Heliogabalus enjoyed camel's heel.[31] Camel meat is still eaten in certain regions, including Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, and other arid regions where alternative forms of protein may be limited or where camel meat has had a long cultural history. Camel blood is also consumable, as is the case among pastoralists in northern Kenya, where camel blood is drunk with milk and acts as a key source of iron, vitamin D, salts and minerals. Camel meat is also occasionally found in Australian cuisine: for example, a camel lasagna is available in Alice Springs.

 

A 2005 report issued jointly by the Saudi Ministry of Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention details cases of human bubonic plague resulting from the ingestion of raw camel liver.

 

RELIGION

ISLAM

Camel meat is halal for Muslims. However, according to some Islamic schools of thought, a state of impurity is brought on by the consumption of it. Consequently, these schools hold that Muslims must perform wudhu (ablution) before the next time they pray after eating camel meat.

 

Also, some Islamic schools of thought consider it haraam for a Muslim to perform salat in places where camels lie, as it is said to be a dwelling place of shaytan.

 

According to Suni ahadith collected by Bukhari and Muslim, Muhammad ordered a certain group of people to drink camel milk and urine as a medicine. However, according to Abū Ḥanīfa, the drinking of camel urine, while not forbidden (ḥaram), is disliked (makrūh) in Islam.

 

Camel urine is sold as traditional medicine in shops in Saudi Arabia. The Sunni scholar Muhammad Al-Munajjid's IslamQA.info recommends camel urine as beneficial to curing certain diseases and to human health and cited Ahadith and scientific studies as justification. King Abdulaziz University researcher Dr. Faten Abdel-Rajman Khorshid has claimed that cancer and other diseases could be treated with camel urine as recommended by the Prophet. The United Arab Emirates "Arab Science and Technology Foundation" reported that cancer could be treated with camel urine. Camel urine was also prescribed as a treatment by Zaghloul El-Naggar, a religious scholar. Camel urine is the only urine which is permitted to be drunk according to the Hanbali madhhab of Sunni Islam. The World Health Organization said that camel urine consumption may be a factor in the spread of the MERS virus in Saudi Arabia. The Gulf Times writer Ahmad al-Sayyed wrote that various afflictions are dealt with camel urine by people. Dandruff, scalp ailments, hair, sores, and wounds were recommended to be treated with camel urine by Ibn Sina. Arab American University Professor of Cell Biology and Immunology Bashar Saad (PhD) along with Omar Said (PhD) wrote that medicinal use of camel urine is approved of and promoted by Islam since it was recommended by the prophet. A test on mice found that cytotoxic effects similar to cyclophosphamide were induced on bone marrow by camel urine. Besides for consumption as a medicinal drink, camel urine is believed to help treat hair. Bites from insects were warded off with camel urine, which also served as a shampoo. Camel urine is also used to help treat asthma, infections, treat hair, sores, hair growth and boost libido.

 

Several Sunni Ahadith mention drinking camel urine. Some Shia criticized Wahhabis for camel urine treatment. Shia scholars also recommend the medicinal use of camel urine. Shia Hadith on Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq reported that shortness of breath (asthma) was treated with camel urine. Shia Marja Ayatollah Sistani said that for medicinal purposes only, sheep, cow, and camel urine can be drunk.

 

JUDAISM

According to Jewish tradition, camel meat and milk are not kosher. Camels possess only one of the two kosher criteria; although they chew their cud, they do not possess cloven hooves:

 

Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only part the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you.

— Leviticus 11:4

 

DISTRIBUTION ANDNUMBERS

There are around 14 million camels alive as of 2010, with 90% being dromedaries. Dromedaries alive today are domesticated animals (mostly living in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Maghreb, Middle East and South Asia). The Horn region alone has the largest concentration of camels in the world, where the dromedaries constitute an important part of local nomadic life. They provide nomadic people in Somalia (which has the largest camel herd in the world) and Ethiopia with milk, food, and transportation.

 

The Bactrian camel is, as of 2010, reduced to an estimated 1.4 million animals, most of which are domesticated. The only truly wild Bactrian camels, of which there are less than one thousand, are thought to inhabit the Gobi Desert in China and Mongolia.

 

The largest population of feral camels is in Australia. There are around 700,000 feral dromedary camels in central parts of Australia, descended from those introduced as a method of transport in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This population is growing about 8% per year. Representatives of the Australian government have culled more than 100,000 of the animals in part because the camels use too much of the limited resources needed by sheep farmers.

 

A small population of introduced camels, dromedaries and Bactrians, wandered through Southwest United States after having been imported in the 1800s as part of the U.S. Camel Corps experiment. When the project ended, they were used as draft animals in mines and escaped or were released. Twenty-five U.S. camels were bought and imported to Canada during the Cariboo Gold Rush.

 

WIKIPEDIA

LRS 130033

that new new.

 

Benched in Southern California

Give me a Girl's World, that Playdoh barber's set or a willing child and I will plait, crimp, curl, straighten, dye, perm, chop, wax, gel, mouse, lacquer, bead, braid, quiff, twist, shave brush till the cows come home. There really aren't many styles I haven't had and I'll happily change it every 6 weeks - thanks to my fabulous friend and hairdresser [efi, i love you!].

 

However, I decided at a very young age that hairdressing wasn't the job for me because: a) i can't stand touching peoples hair unless i know them [yuk, dandruff, nits, lice, scabs etc] b) I can't make small talk with people unless I want to and c) there's sod all money in it. Hence, I studied marine biology...ha ha, and now i earn millions! Perhaps not.

 

Am not overly happy with this shot, it definately looked a lot better in my head but hey ho i've not had much time and I dropped my camera today and broke a filter and now my nifty fifty isn't working properly. Still, means I can get the 1.4... tee hee silver lining and all that. AND, my wide angle should be arriving tomorrow. Am so so excited, a new toy!

  

It happens to everyone. You’re getting ready for a big event like a wedding, or a date, or even a birthday party for a friend, and suddenly you realize you’ve got a problem. You need to know how to get rid of acne overnight, and you need to know it now. Fortunately for you, we have the answer to your question. With a few simple, easy tips and tricks, you can have nice, clear, acne free skin in the morning.

 

First you need to wash your face. Don’t use a harsh cleanser that can irritate your skin even further. A simple wash with warm water and a mild soap is all you need to remove dirt and oil from the surface of your skin.

 

When that is done, it’s time to exfoliate. You want to get rid of the layer of dead skin on your face to help make room for new, clean skin, but you don’t want to scour your face red. A mild facial scrub should be enough. You can even make your own by mixing together sugar, toothpaste – not gel – and a bit of water. Mix them together until you have a paste and gently apply the paste to your face. Massage it into your skin, paying special attention to your problem areas, and then rinse it off with warm water.

 

Did you know that toothpaste, as long as it’s not the gel form, can help fight acne? Simply apply a small bit of toothpaste on your problem area and leave it there for 15-20 minutes before washing it off and patting – not rubbing – your face dry.

 

Apply some face packs or masks. You can use mashed oatmeal masks, which are great in absorbing and removing excess oils on the skin. One great homemade mask to use is egg whites. The vitamin A in egg whites brings in skin tightening and exfoliating benefits.

 

Applying alcohol or eye drops to the area can also help. Simply wet a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol or a bottle of eye drops, and dab it over the acne.

 

In addition to alcohol, you may also apply some homemade acne cleansing solutions over the infected area. For instance, you may use a mixture of half teaspoon tomato juice and one teaspoon of honey. This mixture gives you a brilliant cleansing agent that is very effective in curing all kinds of acne. You may also dab apple cider vinegar or hydrogen peroxide over the problem area to help it dry faster.

 

And don’t forget to try natural herbal remedies. Many people needing to know how to get rid of acne overnight find that applying burdock, sarsparilla and yellow dock can help control their acne. Using a mixture of tea tree oil, or a combination of groundnut oil and lime or lemon juice, can often be helpful. Rosewater has also been known to help soothe inflamed, irritable skin. Try one or try them all until you find the one that works for you.

 

Lastly, have a good night’s sleep. Remember not to sleep on your acne’s side.

 

If it happened that the acne is still visible in the morning, try applying an ice pack n the infected area to reduce redness and swelling. Then, a good skin color concealer can do the trick in hiding your acne.

 

You may be familiar with some products that offer overnight relief. However, these suggestions are equally effective and more economical to follow. However, you must be reminded that of the many ways on how to get rid of acne overnight, their severity of your acne condition should determine your recovery speed.

 

Your skin will, in the end, heal in its own time. Every tip and trick here helps to speed up your recovery and reduce signs of swelling and irritation. Rarely will a truly severe outbreak be healed overnight, but with these helpful hints, hopefully that small blemish will be quickly and easily taken care of.cne Overnigh

 

The post How To Get Rid Of Acne Overnight – Some Effective Ways appeared first on Health & Beauty Tips.

 

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"The absolutely effective, unfailingly successful, perfectly harmless, positively no-dye preparation on the market that restores gray hair to its natural and youthful color, removes crusts, scales and dandruff, soothes irritating, itching surfaces, stimulates the hair follicles, supplies the roots with energy and nourishment, renders the hair beautifully soft, and make the hair grow WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS.

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1902 Sears Roebuck Catalog

Session 5 - Photographing Detail Through Depth-of-Field Management

Benched in Southern California

greatest hits: the best of Kzoo Cowboy

www.flickr.com/photos/kzoocowboy/albums/72157714945953098

Battle Creek

flickr.com/photos/kzoocowboy/albums/72157702067344005

somewhere

www.flickr.com/photos/kzoocowboy/albums/72157711411612746

American Roadside - Photos contributions

www.flickr.com/photos/kzoocowboy/albums/72157718892949423

Siberian Spring Beauty, Siberian Miner's Lettuce, Candy Flower or Pink Purslane. Found in moist woodland and flowers from April to July. This example is the rare white variety found at the RSPB Reserve at Mereshead, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

Apparently once used as an anti-dandruff treatment.

A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. The two surviving species of camel are the dromedary, or one-humped camel (C. dromedarius), which inhabits the Middle East and the Horn of Africa; and the bactrian, or two-humped camel (C. bactrianus), which inhabits Central Asia. Both species have been domesticated; they provide milk, meat, hair for textiles or goods such as felted pouches, and are working animals with tasks ranging from human transport to bearing loads.

 

The term "camel" is derived via Latin and Greek (camelus and κάμηλος kamēlos respectively) from Hebrew or Phoenician gāmāl.

 

"Camel" is also used more broadly to describe any of the six camel-like mammals in the family Camelidae: the two true camels and the four New World camelids: the llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña of South America.

 

BIOLOGY

The average life expectancy of a camel is 40 to 50 years. A full-grown adult camel stands 1.85 m at the shoulder and 2.15 m at the hump. Camels can run at up to 65 km/h in short bursts and sustain speeds of up to 40 km/h. Bactrian camels weigh 300 to 1,000 kg and dromedaries 300 to 600 kg.

 

The male dromedary camel has in its throat an organ called a dulla, a large, inflatable sac he extrudes from his mouth when in rut to assert dominance and attract females. It resembles a long, swollen, pink tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth. Camels mate by having both male and female sitting on the ground, with the male mounting from behind. The male usually ejaculates three or four times within a single mating session. Camelids are the only ungulates to mate in a sitting position.

 

ECOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL ADAPTIONS

Camels do not directly store water in their humps as was once commonly believed. The humps are actually reservoirs of fatty tissue: concentrating body fat in their humps minimizes the insulating effect fat would have if distributed over the rest of their bodies, helping camels survive in hot climates. When this tissue is metabolized, it yields more than one gram of water for every gram of fat processed. This fat metabolization, while releasing energy, causes water to evaporate from the lungs during respiration (as oxygen is required for the metabolic process): overall, there is a net decrease in water.

 

Camels have a series of physiological adaptations that allow them to withstand long periods of time without any external source of water. Unlike other mammals, their red blood cells are oval rather than circular in shape. This facilitates the flow of red blood cells during dehydration and makes them better at withstanding high osmotic variation without rupturing when drinking large amounts of water: a 600 kg camel can drink 200 L of water in three minutes.

 

Camels are able to withstand changes in body temperature and water consumption that would kill most other animals. Their temperature ranges from 34 °C at dawn and steadily increases to 40 °C by sunset, before they cool off at night again. Maintaining the brain temperature within certain limits is critical for animals; to assist this, camels have a rete mirabile, a complex of arteries and veins lying very close to each other which utilizes countercurrent blood flow to cool blood flowing to the brain. Camels rarely sweat, even when ambient temperatures reach 49 °C Any sweat that does occur evaporates at the skin level rather than at the surface of their coat; the heat of vaporization therefore comes from body heat rather than ambient heat. Camels can withstand losing 25% of their body weight to sweating, whereas most other mammals can withstand only about 12–14% dehydration before cardiac failure results from circulatory disturbance.

 

When the camel exhales, water vapor becomes trapped in their nostrils and is reabsorbed into the body as a means to conserve water. Camels eating green herbage can ingest sufficient moisture in milder conditions to maintain their bodies' hydrated state without the need for drinking.

 

The camels' thick coats insulate them from the intense heat radiated from desert sand; a shorn camel must sweat 50% more to avoid overheating. During the summer the coat becomes lighter in color, reflecting light as well as helping avoid sunburn. The camel's long legs help by keeping its body farther from the ground, which can heat up to 70 °C. Dromedaries have a pad of thick tissue over the sternum called the pedestal. When the animal lies down in a sternal recumbent position, the pedestal raises the body from the hot surface and allows cooling air to pass under the body.

 

Camels' mouths have a thick leathery lining, allowing them to chew thorny desert plants. Long eyelashes and ear hairs, together with nostrils that can close, form a barrier against sand. If sand gets lodged in their eyes, they can dislodge it using their transparent third eyelid. The camels' gait and widened feet help them move without sinking into the sand.

 

The kidneys and intestines of a camel are very efficient at reabsorbing water. Camel urine comes out as a thick syrup, and camel feces are so dry that they do not require drying when the Bedouins use them to fuel fires.

 

Camels' immune system differs from those of other mammals. Normally, the Y-shaped antibody molecules consist of two heavy (or long) chains along the length of the Y, and two light (or short) chains at each tip of the Y. Camels, in addition to these, also have antibodies made of only two heavy chains, a trait that makes them smaller and more durable. These "heavy-chain-only" antibodies, discovered in 1993, are thought to have developed 50 million years ago, after camelids split from ruminants and pigs.

 

GENETICS

The karyotypes of different camelid species have been studied earlier by many groups, but no agreement on chromosome nomenclature of camelids has been reached. A 2007 study flow sorted camel chromosomes, building on the fact that camels have 37 pairs of chromosomes (2n=74), and found that the karyotime consisted of one metacentric, three submetacentric, and 32 acrocentric autosomes. The Y is a small metacentric chromosome, while the X is a large metacentric chromosome.The hybrid camel, a hybrid between Bactrian and dromedary camels, has one hump, though it has an indentation 4–12 cm deep that divides the front from the back. The hybrid is 2.15 m at the shoulder and 2.32 m tall at the hump. It weighs an average of 650 kg and can carry around 400 to 450 kg, which is more than either the dromedary or Bactrian can. According to molecular data, the New World and Old World camelids diverged 11 million years ago. In spite of this, these species can still hybridize and produce fertile offspring. The cama is a camel–llama hybrid bred by scientists who wanted to see how closely related the parent species were. Scientists collected semen from a camel via an artificial vagina and inseminated a llama after stimulating ovulation with gonadotrophin injections. The cama has ears halfway between the length of camel and llama ears, no hump, longer legs than the llama, and partially cloven hooves. According to cama breeder Lulu Skidmore, cama have "the fleece of the llamas" and "the strength and patience of the camel". Like the mule, camas are sterile, despite both parents having the same number of chromosomes.

 

EVOLUTION

The earliest known camel, called Protylopus, lived in North America 40 to 50 million years ago (during the Eocene). It was about the size of a rabbit and lived in the open woodlands of what is now South Dakota. By 35 million years ago, the Poebrotherium was the size of a goat and had many more traits similar to camels and llamas. The hoofed Stenomylus, which walked on the tips of its toes, also existed around this time, and the long-necked Aepycamelus evolved in the Miocene.

 

The direct ancestor of all modern camels, Procamelus, existed in the upper Miocone and lower Pliocene. Around 3–5 million years ago, the North American Camelidae spread to South America via the Isthmus of Panama, where they gave rise to guanacos and related animals, and to Asia via the Bering land bridge. Surprising finds of fossil Paracamelus on Ellesmere Island beginning in 2006 in the high Canadian Arctic indicate the dromedary is descended from a larger, boreal browser whose hump may have evolved as an adaptation in a cold climate. This creature is estimated to have stood around nine feet tall.

 

The last camel native to North America was Camelops hesternus, which vanished along with horses, short-faced bears, mammoths and mastodons, ground sloths, sabertooth cats, and many other megafauna, coinciding with the migration of humans from Asia.

 

DOMESTICATION

Most camels surviving today are domesticated. Along with many other megafauna in North America, the original wild camels were wiped out during the spread of Native Americans from Asia into North America, 12,000 to 10,000 years ago. The only wild camels left are the Bactrian camels of the Gobi Desert.

 

Like the horse, before their extinction in their native land, camels spread across the Bering land bridge, moving the opposite direction from the Asian immigration to America, to survive in the Old World and eventually be domesticated and spread globally by humans.

 

Dromedaries may have first been domesticated by humans in Somalia and southern Arabia, around 3,000 BC, the Bactrian in central Asia around 2,500 BC, as at Shar-i Sokhta (also known as the Burnt City), Iran.

 

Discussions concerning camel domestication in Mesopotamia are often related to mentions of camels in the Hebrew Bible. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J for instance mentions that "In accord with patriarchal traditions, cylinder seals from Middle Bronze Age Mesopotamia showed riders seated upon camels."

 

Martin Heide's 2010 work on the domestication of the camel tentatively concludes that the bactrian camel was domesticated by at least the middle of the third millennium somewhere east of the Zagros Mountains, then moving into Mesopotamia, and suggests that mentions of camels "in the patriarchal narratives may refer, at least in some places, to the Bactrian camel." while noting that the camel is not mentioned in relationship to Canaan.

 

Recent excavations in the Timna Valley by Lidar Sapir-Hen and Erez Ben-Yosef discovered what may be the earliest domestic camel bones found in Israel or even outside the Arabian peninsula, dating to around 930 BCE. This garnered considerable media coverage as it was described as evidence that the stories of Abraham, Joseph, Jacob and Esau were written after this time.

 

The existence of camels in Mesopotamia but not in Israel is not a new idea. According to an article in Time Magazine, the historian Richard Bulliet wrote in his 1975 book "The Camel and the Wheel" that "the occasional mention of camels in patriarchal narratives does not mean that the domestic camels were common in the Holy Land at that period." The archaeologist William F. Albright writing even earlier saw camels in the Bible as an anachronism. The official report by Sapir-Hen and Ben-Joseph notes that "The introduction of the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) as a pack animal to the southern Levant signifies a crucial juncture in the history of the region; it substantially facilitated trade across the vast deserts of Arabia, promoting both economic and social change (e.g., Kohler 1984; Borowski 1998: 112-116; Jasmin 2005). This, together with the depiction of camels in the Patriarchal narrative, has generated extensive discussion regarding the date of the earliest domestic camel in the southern Levant (and beyond) (e.g., Albright 1949: 207; Epstein 1971: 558-584; Bulliet 1975; Zarins 1989; Köhler-Rollefson 1993; Uerpmann and Uerpmann 2002; Jasmin 2005; 2006; Heide 2010; Rosen and Saidel 2010; Grigson 2012). Most scholars today agree that the dromedary was exploited as a pack animal sometime in the early Iron Age (not before the 12th century BCE)" and concludes that "Current data from copper smelting sites of the Aravah Valley enable us to pinpoint the introduction of domestic camels to the southern Levant more precisely based on stratigraphic contexts associated with an extensive suite of radiocarbon dates. The data indicate that this event occurred not earlier than the last third of the 10th century BCE and most probably during this time. The coincidence of this event with a major reorganization of the copper industry of the region - attributed to the results of the campaign of Pharaoh Shoshenq I - raises the possibility that the two were connected, and that camels were introduced as part of the efforts to improve efficiency by facilitating trade."

 

MILITARY USES

By at least 1200 BC, the first camel saddles had appeared, and Bactrian camels could be ridden. The first saddle was positioned to the back of the camel, and control of the Bactrian camel was exercised by means of a stick. However, between 500–100 BC, Bactrian camels attained military use. New saddles, which were inflexible and bent, were put over the humps and divided the rider's weight over the animal. In the seventh century BC, the military Arabian saddle appeared, which improved the saddle design again slightly.

 

Camel cavalries have been used in wars throughout Africa, the Middle East, and into modern-day Border Security Force of India (though as of July 2012, the BSF has planned the replacement of camels with ATVs). The first use of camel cavalries was in the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC. Armies have also used camels as freight animals instead of horses and mules.

In the East Roman Empire, the Romans used auxiliary forces known as dromedarii, whom they recruited in desert provinces. The camels were used mostly in combat because of their ability to scare off horses at close ranges (horses are afraid of the camels' scent), a quality famously employed by the Achaemenid Persians when fighting Lydia in the Battle of Thymbra.

 

19th and 20th CENTURIES

The United States Army established the U.S. Camel Corps, which was stationed in California in the late 19th century. One may still see stables at the Benicia Arsenal in Benicia, California, where they nowadays serve as the Benicia Historical Museum. Though the experimental use of camels was seen as a success (John B. Floyd, Secretary of War in 1858, recommended that funds be allocated towards obtaining a thousand more camels), the outbreak of the American Civil War saw the end of the Camel Corps: Texas became part of the Confederacy, and most of the camels were left to wander away into the desert.

 

France created a méhariste camel corps in 1912 as part of the Armée d'Afrique in the Sahara in order to exercise greater control over the camel-riding Tuareg and Arab insurgents, as previous efforts to defeat them on foot had failed. The camel-mounted units remained in service until the end of French rule over Algeria in 1962.

 

In 1916, the British created the Imperial Camel Corps. It was originally used to fight the Senussi, but was later used in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I. The Imperial Camel Corps comprised infantrymen mounted on camels for movement across desert, though they dismounted at battle sites and fought on foot. After July 1918, the Corps began to become run down, receiving no new reinforcements, and was formally disbanded in 1919.

 

In World War I, the British Army also created the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps, which consisted of a group of Egyptian camel drivers and their camels. The Corps supported British war operations in Sinai, Palestine, and Syria by transporting supplies to the troops.

 

The Somaliland Camel Corps was created by colonial authorities in British Somaliland in 1912; it was disbanded in 1944.

 

Bactrian camels were used by Romanian forces during World War II in the Caucasian region.

 

The Bikaner Camel Corps of British India fought alongside the British Indian Army in World Wars I and II.

 

The Tropas Nómadas (Nomad Troops) were an auxiliary regiment of Sahrawi tribesmen serving in the colonial army in Spanish Sahara (today Western Sahara). Operational from the 1930s until the end of the Spanish presence in the territory in 1975, the Tropas Nómadas were equipped with small arms and led by Spanish officers. The unit guarded outposts and sometimes conducted patrols on camelback.

 

FOOD USES

DAIRY

Camel milk is a staple food of desert nomad tribes and is sometimes considered a meal in and of itself; a nomad can live on only camel milk for almost a month. Camel milk is rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins, and immunoglobulins; compared to cow's milk, it is lower in fat and lactose, and higher in potassium, iron, and vitamin C. Bedouins believe the curative powers of camel milk are enhanced if the camel's diet consists of certain desert plants. Camel milk can readily be made into a drinkable yogurt, as well as butter or cheese, though the yields for cheese tend to be low.

 

Camel milk cannot be made into butter by the traditional churning method. It can be made if it is soured first, churned, and a clarifying agent is then added. Until recently, camel milk could not be made into camel cheese because rennet was unable to coagulate the milk proteins to allow the collection of curds. Developing less wasteful uses of the milk, the FAO commissioned Professor J.P. Ramet of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie et des Industries Alimentaires, who was able to produce curdling by the addition of calcium phosphate and vegetable rennet. The cheese produced from this process has low levels of cholesterol and is easy to digest, even for the lactose intolerant. The sale of camel cheese is limited owing to the small output of the few dairies producing camel cheese and the absence of camel cheese in local (West African) markets. Cheese imports from countries that traditionally breed camels are difficult to obtain due to restrictions on dairy imports from these regions.

 

Additionally, camel milk has been made into ice cream in a Netherlands camel farm.

 

MEAT

A camel carcass can provide a substantial amount of meat. The male dromedary carcass can weigh 300–400 kg, while the carcass of a male Bactrian can weigh up to 650 kg. The carcass of a female dromedary weighs less than the male, ranging between 250 and 350 kg. The brisket, ribs and loin are among the preferred parts, and the hump is considered a delicacy. The hump contains "white and sickly fat", which can be used to make the khli (preserved meat) of mutton, beef, or camel. Camel meat is reported to taste like coarse beef, but older camels can prove to be very tough, although camel meat becomes more tender the more it is cooked. The Abu Dhabi Officers' Club serves a camel burger mixed with beef or lamb fat in order to improve the texture and taste. In Karachi, Pakistan, some restaurants prepare nihari from camel meat. In Syria and Egypt, there are specialist camel butchers.

 

Camel meat has been eaten for centuries. It has been recorded by ancient Greek writers as an available dish at banquets in ancient Persia, usually roasted whole. The ancient Roman emperor Heliogabalus enjoyed camel's heel.[31] Camel meat is still eaten in certain regions, including Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, and other arid regions where alternative forms of protein may be limited or where camel meat has had a long cultural history. Camel blood is also consumable, as is the case among pastoralists in northern Kenya, where camel blood is drunk with milk and acts as a key source of iron, vitamin D, salts and minerals. Camel meat is also occasionally found in Australian cuisine: for example, a camel lasagna is available in Alice Springs.

 

A 2005 report issued jointly by the Saudi Ministry of Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention details cases of human bubonic plague resulting from the ingestion of raw camel liver.

 

RELIGION

ISLAM

Camel meat is halal for Muslims. However, according to some Islamic schools of thought, a state of impurity is brought on by the consumption of it. Consequently, these schools hold that Muslims must perform wudhu (ablution) before the next time they pray after eating camel meat.

 

Also, some Islamic schools of thought consider it haraam for a Muslim to perform salat in places where camels lie, as it is said to be a dwelling place of shaytan.

 

According to Suni ahadith collected by Bukhari and Muslim, Muhammad ordered a certain group of people to drink camel milk and urine as a medicine. However, according to Abū Ḥanīfa, the drinking of camel urine, while not forbidden (ḥaram), is disliked (makrūh) in Islam.

 

Camel urine is sold as traditional medicine in shops in Saudi Arabia. The Sunni scholar Muhammad Al-Munajjid's IslamQA.info recommends camel urine as beneficial to curing certain diseases and to human health and cited Ahadith and scientific studies as justification. King Abdulaziz University researcher Dr. Faten Abdel-Rajman Khorshid has claimed that cancer and other diseases could be treated with camel urine as recommended by the Prophet. The United Arab Emirates "Arab Science and Technology Foundation" reported that cancer could be treated with camel urine. Camel urine was also prescribed as a treatment by Zaghloul El-Naggar, a religious scholar. Camel urine is the only urine which is permitted to be drunk according to the Hanbali madhhab of Sunni Islam. The World Health Organization said that camel urine consumption may be a factor in the spread of the MERS virus in Saudi Arabia. The Gulf Times writer Ahmad al-Sayyed wrote that various afflictions are dealt with camel urine by people. Dandruff, scalp ailments, hair, sores, and wounds were recommended to be treated with camel urine by Ibn Sina. Arab American University Professor of Cell Biology and Immunology Bashar Saad (PhD) along with Omar Said (PhD) wrote that medicinal use of camel urine is approved of and promoted by Islam since it was recommended by the prophet. A test on mice found that cytotoxic effects similar to cyclophosphamide were induced on bone marrow by camel urine. Besides for consumption as a medicinal drink, camel urine is believed to help treat hair. Bites from insects were warded off with camel urine, which also served as a shampoo. Camel urine is also used to help treat asthma, infections, treat hair, sores, hair growth and boost libido.

 

Several Sunni Ahadith mention drinking camel urine. Some Shia criticized Wahhabis for camel urine treatment. Shia scholars also recommend the medicinal use of camel urine. Shia Hadith on Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq reported that shortness of breath (asthma) was treated with camel urine. Shia Marja Ayatollah Sistani said that for medicinal purposes only, sheep, cow, and camel urine can be drunk.

 

JUDAISM

According to Jewish tradition, camel meat and milk are not kosher. Camels possess only one of the two kosher criteria; although they chew their cud, they do not possess cloven hooves:

 

Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only part the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you.

— Leviticus 11:4

 

DISTRIBUTION ANDNUMBERS

There are around 14 million camels alive as of 2010, with 90% being dromedaries. Dromedaries alive today are domesticated animals (mostly living in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Maghreb, Middle East and South Asia). The Horn region alone has the largest concentration of camels in the world, where the dromedaries constitute an important part of local nomadic life. They provide nomadic people in Somalia (which has the largest camel herd in the world) and Ethiopia with milk, food, and transportation.

 

The Bactrian camel is, as of 2010, reduced to an estimated 1.4 million animals, most of which are domesticated. The only truly wild Bactrian camels, of which there are less than one thousand, are thought to inhabit the Gobi Desert in China and Mongolia.

 

The largest population of feral camels is in Australia. There are around 700,000 feral dromedary camels in central parts of Australia, descended from those introduced as a method of transport in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This population is growing about 8% per year. Representatives of the Australian government have culled more than 100,000 of the animals in part because the camels use too much of the limited resources needed by sheep farmers.

 

A small population of introduced camels, dromedaries and Bactrians, wandered through Southwest United States after having been imported in the 1800s as part of the U.S. Camel Corps experiment. When the project ended, they were used as draft animals in mines and escaped or were released. Twenty-five U.S. camels were bought and imported to Canada during the Cariboo Gold Rush.

 

WIKIPEDIA

A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. The two surviving species of camel are the dromedary, or one-humped camel (C. dromedarius), which inhabits the Middle East and the Horn of Africa; and the bactrian, or two-humped camel (C. bactrianus), which inhabits Central Asia. Both species have been domesticated; they provide milk, meat, hair for textiles or goods such as felted pouches, and are working animals with tasks ranging from human transport to bearing loads.

 

The term "camel" is derived via Latin and Greek (camelus and κάμηλος kamēlos respectively) from Hebrew or Phoenician gāmāl.

 

"Camel" is also used more broadly to describe any of the six camel-like mammals in the family Camelidae: the two true camels and the four New World camelids: the llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña of South America.

 

BIOLOGY

The average life expectancy of a camel is 40 to 50 years. A full-grown adult camel stands 1.85 m at the shoulder and 2.15 m at the hump. Camels can run at up to 65 km/h in short bursts and sustain speeds of up to 40 km/h. Bactrian camels weigh 300 to 1,000 kg and dromedaries 300 to 600 kg.

 

The male dromedary camel has in its throat an organ called a dulla, a large, inflatable sac he extrudes from his mouth when in rut to assert dominance and attract females. It resembles a long, swollen, pink tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth. Camels mate by having both male and female sitting on the ground, with the male mounting from behind. The male usually ejaculates three or four times within a single mating session. Camelids are the only ungulates to mate in a sitting position.

 

ECOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL ADAPTIONS

Camels do not directly store water in their humps as was once commonly believed. The humps are actually reservoirs of fatty tissue: concentrating body fat in their humps minimizes the insulating effect fat would have if distributed over the rest of their bodies, helping camels survive in hot climates. When this tissue is metabolized, it yields more than one gram of water for every gram of fat processed. This fat metabolization, while releasing energy, causes water to evaporate from the lungs during respiration (as oxygen is required for the metabolic process): overall, there is a net decrease in water.

 

Camels have a series of physiological adaptations that allow them to withstand long periods of time without any external source of water. Unlike other mammals, their red blood cells are oval rather than circular in shape. This facilitates the flow of red blood cells during dehydration and makes them better at withstanding high osmotic variation without rupturing when drinking large amounts of water: a 600 kg camel can drink 200 L of water in three minutes.

 

Camels are able to withstand changes in body temperature and water consumption that would kill most other animals. Their temperature ranges from 34 °C at dawn and steadily increases to 40 °C by sunset, before they cool off at night again. Maintaining the brain temperature within certain limits is critical for animals; to assist this, camels have a rete mirabile, a complex of arteries and veins lying very close to each other which utilizes countercurrent blood flow to cool blood flowing to the brain. Camels rarely sweat, even when ambient temperatures reach 49 °C Any sweat that does occur evaporates at the skin level rather than at the surface of their coat; the heat of vaporization therefore comes from body heat rather than ambient heat. Camels can withstand losing 25% of their body weight to sweating, whereas most other mammals can withstand only about 12–14% dehydration before cardiac failure results from circulatory disturbance.

 

When the camel exhales, water vapor becomes trapped in their nostrils and is reabsorbed into the body as a means to conserve water. Camels eating green herbage can ingest sufficient moisture in milder conditions to maintain their bodies' hydrated state without the need for drinking.

 

The camels' thick coats insulate them from the intense heat radiated from desert sand; a shorn camel must sweat 50% more to avoid overheating. During the summer the coat becomes lighter in color, reflecting light as well as helping avoid sunburn. The camel's long legs help by keeping its body farther from the ground, which can heat up to 70 °C. Dromedaries have a pad of thick tissue over the sternum called the pedestal. When the animal lies down in a sternal recumbent position, the pedestal raises the body from the hot surface and allows cooling air to pass under the body.

 

Camels' mouths have a thick leathery lining, allowing them to chew thorny desert plants. Long eyelashes and ear hairs, together with nostrils that can close, form a barrier against sand. If sand gets lodged in their eyes, they can dislodge it using their transparent third eyelid. The camels' gait and widened feet help them move without sinking into the sand.

 

The kidneys and intestines of a camel are very efficient at reabsorbing water. Camel urine comes out as a thick syrup, and camel feces are so dry that they do not require drying when the Bedouins use them to fuel fires.

 

Camels' immune system differs from those of other mammals. Normally, the Y-shaped antibody molecules consist of two heavy (or long) chains along the length of the Y, and two light (or short) chains at each tip of the Y. Camels, in addition to these, also have antibodies made of only two heavy chains, a trait that makes them smaller and more durable. These "heavy-chain-only" antibodies, discovered in 1993, are thought to have developed 50 million years ago, after camelids split from ruminants and pigs.

 

GENETICS

The karyotypes of different camelid species have been studied earlier by many groups, but no agreement on chromosome nomenclature of camelids has been reached. A 2007 study flow sorted camel chromosomes, building on the fact that camels have 37 pairs of chromosomes (2n=74), and found that the karyotime consisted of one metacentric, three submetacentric, and 32 acrocentric autosomes. The Y is a small metacentric chromosome, while the X is a large metacentric chromosome.The hybrid camel, a hybrid between Bactrian and dromedary camels, has one hump, though it has an indentation 4–12 cm deep that divides the front from the back. The hybrid is 2.15 m at the shoulder and 2.32 m tall at the hump. It weighs an average of 650 kg and can carry around 400 to 450 kg, which is more than either the dromedary or Bactrian can. According to molecular data, the New World and Old World camelids diverged 11 million years ago. In spite of this, these species can still hybridize and produce fertile offspring. The cama is a camel–llama hybrid bred by scientists who wanted to see how closely related the parent species were. Scientists collected semen from a camel via an artificial vagina and inseminated a llama after stimulating ovulation with gonadotrophin injections. The cama has ears halfway between the length of camel and llama ears, no hump, longer legs than the llama, and partially cloven hooves. According to cama breeder Lulu Skidmore, cama have "the fleece of the llamas" and "the strength and patience of the camel". Like the mule, camas are sterile, despite both parents having the same number of chromosomes.

 

EVOLUTION

The earliest known camel, called Protylopus, lived in North America 40 to 50 million years ago (during the Eocene). It was about the size of a rabbit and lived in the open woodlands of what is now South Dakota. By 35 million years ago, the Poebrotherium was the size of a goat and had many more traits similar to camels and llamas. The hoofed Stenomylus, which walked on the tips of its toes, also existed around this time, and the long-necked Aepycamelus evolved in the Miocene.

 

The direct ancestor of all modern camels, Procamelus, existed in the upper Miocone and lower Pliocene. Around 3–5 million years ago, the North American Camelidae spread to South America via the Isthmus of Panama, where they gave rise to guanacos and related animals, and to Asia via the Bering land bridge. Surprising finds of fossil Paracamelus on Ellesmere Island beginning in 2006 in the high Canadian Arctic indicate the dromedary is descended from a larger, boreal browser whose hump may have evolved as an adaptation in a cold climate. This creature is estimated to have stood around nine feet tall.

 

The last camel native to North America was Camelops hesternus, which vanished along with horses, short-faced bears, mammoths and mastodons, ground sloths, sabertooth cats, and many other megafauna, coinciding with the migration of humans from Asia.

 

DOMESTICATION

Most camels surviving today are domesticated. Along with many other megafauna in North America, the original wild camels were wiped out during the spread of Native Americans from Asia into North America, 12,000 to 10,000 years ago. The only wild camels left are the Bactrian camels of the Gobi Desert.

 

Like the horse, before their extinction in their native land, camels spread across the Bering land bridge, moving the opposite direction from the Asian immigration to America, to survive in the Old World and eventually be domesticated and spread globally by humans.

 

Dromedaries may have first been domesticated by humans in Somalia and southern Arabia, around 3,000 BC, the Bactrian in central Asia around 2,500 BC, as at Shar-i Sokhta (also known as the Burnt City), Iran.

 

Discussions concerning camel domestication in Mesopotamia are often related to mentions of camels in the Hebrew Bible. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J for instance mentions that "In accord with patriarchal traditions, cylinder seals from Middle Bronze Age Mesopotamia showed riders seated upon camels."

 

Martin Heide's 2010 work on the domestication of the camel tentatively concludes that the bactrian camel was domesticated by at least the middle of the third millennium somewhere east of the Zagros Mountains, then moving into Mesopotamia, and suggests that mentions of camels "in the patriarchal narratives may refer, at least in some places, to the Bactrian camel." while noting that the camel is not mentioned in relationship to Canaan.

 

Recent excavations in the Timna Valley by Lidar Sapir-Hen and Erez Ben-Yosef discovered what may be the earliest domestic camel bones found in Israel or even outside the Arabian peninsula, dating to around 930 BCE. This garnered considerable media coverage as it was described as evidence that the stories of Abraham, Joseph, Jacob and Esau were written after this time.

 

The existence of camels in Mesopotamia but not in Israel is not a new idea. According to an article in Time Magazine, the historian Richard Bulliet wrote in his 1975 book "The Camel and the Wheel" that "the occasional mention of camels in patriarchal narratives does not mean that the domestic camels were common in the Holy Land at that period." The archaeologist William F. Albright writing even earlier saw camels in the Bible as an anachronism. The official report by Sapir-Hen and Ben-Joseph notes that "The introduction of the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) as a pack animal to the southern Levant signifies a crucial juncture in the history of the region; it substantially facilitated trade across the vast deserts of Arabia, promoting both economic and social change (e.g., Kohler 1984; Borowski 1998: 112-116; Jasmin 2005). This, together with the depiction of camels in the Patriarchal narrative, has generated extensive discussion regarding the date of the earliest domestic camel in the southern Levant (and beyond) (e.g., Albright 1949: 207; Epstein 1971: 558-584; Bulliet 1975; Zarins 1989; Köhler-Rollefson 1993; Uerpmann and Uerpmann 2002; Jasmin 2005; 2006; Heide 2010; Rosen and Saidel 2010; Grigson 2012). Most scholars today agree that the dromedary was exploited as a pack animal sometime in the early Iron Age (not before the 12th century BCE)" and concludes that "Current data from copper smelting sites of the Aravah Valley enable us to pinpoint the introduction of domestic camels to the southern Levant more precisely based on stratigraphic contexts associated with an extensive suite of radiocarbon dates. The data indicate that this event occurred not earlier than the last third of the 10th century BCE and most probably during this time. The coincidence of this event with a major reorganization of the copper industry of the region - attributed to the results of the campaign of Pharaoh Shoshenq I - raises the possibility that the two were connected, and that camels were introduced as part of the efforts to improve efficiency by facilitating trade."

 

MILITARY USES

By at least 1200 BC, the first camel saddles had appeared, and Bactrian camels could be ridden. The first saddle was positioned to the back of the camel, and control of the Bactrian camel was exercised by means of a stick. However, between 500–100 BC, Bactrian camels attained military use. New saddles, which were inflexible and bent, were put over the humps and divided the rider's weight over the animal. In the seventh century BC, the military Arabian saddle appeared, which improved the saddle design again slightly.

 

Camel cavalries have been used in wars throughout Africa, the Middle East, and into modern-day Border Security Force of India (though as of July 2012, the BSF has planned the replacement of camels with ATVs). The first use of camel cavalries was in the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC. Armies have also used camels as freight animals instead of horses and mules.

In the East Roman Empire, the Romans used auxiliary forces known as dromedarii, whom they recruited in desert provinces. The camels were used mostly in combat because of their ability to scare off horses at close ranges (horses are afraid of the camels' scent), a quality famously employed by the Achaemenid Persians when fighting Lydia in the Battle of Thymbra.

 

19th and 20th CENTURIES

The United States Army established the U.S. Camel Corps, which was stationed in California in the late 19th century. One may still see stables at the Benicia Arsenal in Benicia, California, where they nowadays serve as the Benicia Historical Museum. Though the experimental use of camels was seen as a success (John B. Floyd, Secretary of War in 1858, recommended that funds be allocated towards obtaining a thousand more camels), the outbreak of the American Civil War saw the end of the Camel Corps: Texas became part of the Confederacy, and most of the camels were left to wander away into the desert.

 

France created a méhariste camel corps in 1912 as part of the Armée d'Afrique in the Sahara in order to exercise greater control over the camel-riding Tuareg and Arab insurgents, as previous efforts to defeat them on foot had failed. The camel-mounted units remained in service until the end of French rule over Algeria in 1962.

 

In 1916, the British created the Imperial Camel Corps. It was originally used to fight the Senussi, but was later used in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I. The Imperial Camel Corps comprised infantrymen mounted on camels for movement across desert, though they dismounted at battle sites and fought on foot. After July 1918, the Corps began to become run down, receiving no new reinforcements, and was formally disbanded in 1919.

 

In World War I, the British Army also created the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps, which consisted of a group of Egyptian camel drivers and their camels. The Corps supported British war operations in Sinai, Palestine, and Syria by transporting supplies to the troops.

 

The Somaliland Camel Corps was created by colonial authorities in British Somaliland in 1912; it was disbanded in 1944.

 

Bactrian camels were used by Romanian forces during World War II in the Caucasian region.

 

The Bikaner Camel Corps of British India fought alongside the British Indian Army in World Wars I and II.

 

The Tropas Nómadas (Nomad Troops) were an auxiliary regiment of Sahrawi tribesmen serving in the colonial army in Spanish Sahara (today Western Sahara). Operational from the 1930s until the end of the Spanish presence in the territory in 1975, the Tropas Nómadas were equipped with small arms and led by Spanish officers. The unit guarded outposts and sometimes conducted patrols on camelback.

 

FOOD USES

DAIRY

Camel milk is a staple food of desert nomad tribes and is sometimes considered a meal in and of itself; a nomad can live on only camel milk for almost a month. Camel milk is rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins, and immunoglobulins; compared to cow's milk, it is lower in fat and lactose, and higher in potassium, iron, and vitamin C. Bedouins believe the curative powers of camel milk are enhanced if the camel's diet consists of certain desert plants. Camel milk can readily be made into a drinkable yogurt, as well as butter or cheese, though the yields for cheese tend to be low.

 

Camel milk cannot be made into butter by the traditional churning method. It can be made if it is soured first, churned, and a clarifying agent is then added. Until recently, camel milk could not be made into camel cheese because rennet was unable to coagulate the milk proteins to allow the collection of curds. Developing less wasteful uses of the milk, the FAO commissioned Professor J.P. Ramet of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie et des Industries Alimentaires, who was able to produce curdling by the addition of calcium phosphate and vegetable rennet. The cheese produced from this process has low levels of cholesterol and is easy to digest, even for the lactose intolerant. The sale of camel cheese is limited owing to the small output of the few dairies producing camel cheese and the absence of camel cheese in local (West African) markets. Cheese imports from countries that traditionally breed camels are difficult to obtain due to restrictions on dairy imports from these regions.

 

Additionally, camel milk has been made into ice cream in a Netherlands camel farm.

 

MEAT

A camel carcass can provide a substantial amount of meat. The male dromedary carcass can weigh 300–400 kg, while the carcass of a male Bactrian can weigh up to 650 kg. The carcass of a female dromedary weighs less than the male, ranging between 250 and 350 kg. The brisket, ribs and loin are among the preferred parts, and the hump is considered a delicacy. The hump contains "white and sickly fat", which can be used to make the khli (preserved meat) of mutton, beef, or camel. Camel meat is reported to taste like coarse beef, but older camels can prove to be very tough, although camel meat becomes more tender the more it is cooked. The Abu Dhabi Officers' Club serves a camel burger mixed with beef or lamb fat in order to improve the texture and taste. In Karachi, Pakistan, some restaurants prepare nihari from camel meat. In Syria and Egypt, there are specialist camel butchers.

 

Camel meat has been eaten for centuries. It has been recorded by ancient Greek writers as an available dish at banquets in ancient Persia, usually roasted whole. The ancient Roman emperor Heliogabalus enjoyed camel's heel.[31] Camel meat is still eaten in certain regions, including Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, and other arid regions where alternative forms of protein may be limited or where camel meat has had a long cultural history. Camel blood is also consumable, as is the case among pastoralists in northern Kenya, where camel blood is drunk with milk and acts as a key source of iron, vitamin D, salts and minerals. Camel meat is also occasionally found in Australian cuisine: for example, a camel lasagna is available in Alice Springs.

 

A 2005 report issued jointly by the Saudi Ministry of Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention details cases of human bubonic plague resulting from the ingestion of raw camel liver.

 

RELIGION

ISLAM

Camel meat is halal for Muslims. However, according to some Islamic schools of thought, a state of impurity is brought on by the consumption of it. Consequently, these schools hold that Muslims must perform wudhu (ablution) before the next time they pray after eating camel meat.

 

Also, some Islamic schools of thought consider it haraam for a Muslim to perform salat in places where camels lie, as it is said to be a dwelling place of shaytan.

 

According to Suni ahadith collected by Bukhari and Muslim, Muhammad ordered a certain group of people to drink camel milk and urine as a medicine. However, according to Abū Ḥanīfa, the drinking of camel urine, while not forbidden (ḥaram), is disliked (makrūh) in Islam.

 

Camel urine is sold as traditional medicine in shops in Saudi Arabia. The Sunni scholar Muhammad Al-Munajjid's IslamQA.info recommends camel urine as beneficial to curing certain diseases and to human health and cited Ahadith and scientific studies as justification. King Abdulaziz University researcher Dr. Faten Abdel-Rajman Khorshid has claimed that cancer and other diseases could be treated with camel urine as recommended by the Prophet. The United Arab Emirates "Arab Science and Technology Foundation" reported that cancer could be treated with camel urine. Camel urine was also prescribed as a treatment by Zaghloul El-Naggar, a religious scholar. Camel urine is the only urine which is permitted to be drunk according to the Hanbali madhhab of Sunni Islam. The World Health Organization said that camel urine consumption may be a factor in the spread of the MERS virus in Saudi Arabia. The Gulf Times writer Ahmad al-Sayyed wrote that various afflictions are dealt with camel urine by people. Dandruff, scalp ailments, hair, sores, and wounds were recommended to be treated with camel urine by Ibn Sina. Arab American University Professor of Cell Biology and Immunology Bashar Saad (PhD) along with Omar Said (PhD) wrote that medicinal use of camel urine is approved of and promoted by Islam since it was recommended by the prophet. A test on mice found that cytotoxic effects similar to cyclophosphamide were induced on bone marrow by camel urine. Besides for consumption as a medicinal drink, camel urine is believed to help treat hair. Bites from insects were warded off with camel urine, which also served as a shampoo. Camel urine is also used to help treat asthma, infections, treat hair, sores, hair growth and boost libido.

 

Several Sunni Ahadith mention drinking camel urine. Some Shia criticized Wahhabis for camel urine treatment. Shia scholars also recommend the medicinal use of camel urine. Shia Hadith on Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq reported that shortness of breath (asthma) was treated with camel urine. Shia Marja Ayatollah Sistani said that for medicinal purposes only, sheep, cow, and camel urine can be drunk.

 

JUDAISM

According to Jewish tradition, camel meat and milk are not kosher. Camels possess only one of the two kosher criteria; although they chew their cud, they do not possess cloven hooves:

 

Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only part the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you.

— Leviticus 11:4

 

DISTRIBUTION ANDNUMBERS

There are around 14 million camels alive as of 2010, with 90% being dromedaries. Dromedaries alive today are domesticated animals (mostly living in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Maghreb, Middle East and South Asia). The Horn region alone has the largest concentration of camels in the world, where the dromedaries constitute an important part of local nomadic life. They provide nomadic people in Somalia (which has the largest camel herd in the world) and Ethiopia with milk, food, and transportation.

 

The Bactrian camel is, as of 2010, reduced to an estimated 1.4 million animals, most of which are domesticated. The only truly wild Bactrian camels, of which there are less than one thousand, are thought to inhabit the Gobi Desert in China and Mongolia.

 

The largest population of feral camels is in Australia. There are around 700,000 feral dromedary camels in central parts of Australia, descended from those introduced as a method of transport in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This population is growing about 8% per year. Representatives of the Australian government have culled more than 100,000 of the animals in part because the camels use too much of the limited resources needed by sheep farmers.

 

A small population of introduced camels, dromedaries and Bactrians, wandered through Southwest United States after having been imported in the 1800s as part of the U.S. Camel Corps experiment. When the project ended, they were used as draft animals in mines and escaped or were released. Twenty-five U.S. camels were bought and imported to Canada during the Cariboo Gold Rush.

 

WIKIPEDIA