in Zoology. See CAMELUS.

in Mechanics, a kind of machine used in Holland for raising or lifting ships, in order to bring them over the Pampus, which is at the mouth of the river Y, where the shallowness of the water hinders large ships from passing. It is also used in other places, particularly at the dock of Peterburgh, the vessels built here being in their passage to Cronstadt; lifted over the bar by means of camels. These machines were originally invented by the celebrated De Wit, for the purpose above mentioned; and were introduced into Russia by Peter the Great, who obtained the model of them when he worked in Holland as a common shipwright. A camel is composed of two separate parts, whose outsides are perpendicular, and whose insides are concave, shaped so as to embrace the hull of a ship on both sides. Each part has a small cabin with fifteen pumps and ten plugs, and contains 20 men. They are braced to a ship underneath by means of cables, and entirely enclose its sides and bottom; being then towed to the bar, the plugs are opened, and the water admitted until the camel sinks with the ship and runs aground. Then, the water being pumped out, the camel rises, lifts up the vessel, and the whole is towed over the bar. This machine can raise the ship eleven feet, or, in other words, make it draw eleven feet less water.