Histological and histochemical studies on the fundic mucosa of the camel's stomach (Camelus dromedarius).

The one-humped camel, like our domestic ruminants, has a capacious compartmentalized stomach and is a ruminating animal. In our studies wer followed the currently predominant opinion that the camel stomach consists of three compartments (Vallenas, cummings, Munnel 1971). The third one of it is considered as the tubular portion following the second compartment or reticulum and extends till to the pylorus. The Tunica mucosa in the terminal dilated part (distal one-fifth) of this third compartment bears at its greater curvature very thick folds enclosing flat furrows which divide the mucosa into nearly regular areas (gastric areas). This portion of the third compartment contains the proper gastric glands (fundic glands) which differ somewhat from those in the advanced ruminants, especially in the arrangement of the parietal cells and the behaviour of the chief cells which can store mucosubstance during fastening or diminishing of the food in the camel.