God has accordingly given us the camel."
"And the dromedary," remarked Ernest.
"So everywhere," continued Becker; "and add to these evidences of
Divine wisdom the brilliant colors, the silken furs, the golden
plumage, and the ever-varying forms, yet, in all this diversity,
there is unison--a harmony. Like the various objects which a clever
artist introduces into his sketch, they are placed without uniformity,
but still with reference to their effect upon each other, and so to
the unity of the general design."
"Therefore," remarked Ernest, "we have an animal whose skin is of
stone, which it throws off annually to assume a new one--whose flesh
is its tail and in its feet--whose hair is found inside in its
breast--whose stomach is in its head, which, like the skin, is renewed
every year, the first function of the new being to digest the old
one."
Here the Pilot manifested some symptoms of incredulity.
"That is not all, Willis," continued Ernest, "the animal of which I
speak carries its eggs in the interior of its body till they are
hatched, and then transfers them to its tail. It has pebbles in its
stomach, can throw off its limbs when they incommode it, and replace
them with others more to its fancy. To finish the portrait, its eyes
are placed at the tip of long flexible horns."
"Do you really mean me to believe that yarn?" inquired Willis.
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