Sir Walter Scott’s early work consisted of poetic romances such as The Lady of the Lake (1810). He later wrote The Waverley Novels, a series of historical novels published anonymously between 1814 and 1832 that were popular in his day. The earlier books are set in Scotland and demonstrate Scott’s knowledge of Scottish history and society.

Scott’s earliest published work was largely poetry. After translating a few German texts, he went on to publish a three-volume anthology entitled Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802–03), the product of his long-term interest in Scottish border ballads. In this collection Scott attempted to “restore” orally corrupted versions of ballads, often creating works of art in their own right. After his ballad anthology, which made his name known to a wide public, he published several poetic romances such as Marmion (1808) and The Lady of the Lake. Within a few years he tired of narrative poetry, and in 1814 he published his first novel, Waverley. The novel tells the story of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 in Scotland. It was an instant success, although it was published anonymously. A series of novels followed that came to be known as The Waverley Novels, many of which are also set in historical Scotland. In these Scott demonstrates his deep knowledge of Scottish history and culture, masterfully portraying the manners, speech, and customs of his native country and capturing the different echelons of Scottish society. As demand for his historical novels increased, Scott began to reach outside of Scotland for his source material. In 1819 he published his most popular work, Ivanhoe, set in 12th-century England. He also wrote Quentin Duward (1823), set in 15th-century France, and The Talisman (1825), set in Palestine during the Crusades. Scott had a profound influence on other European and American novelists, and he is often credited with inventing the historical novel.

Camels have long been known for their ability to go weeks at a time without needing to drink water—an ability that makes them particularly useful pack animals for people traveling across arid environments and that earned them the nickname “ships of the desert.” Camels are also known for their prominent humps (either one or two humps, depending on the species), which leads many people to believe that these are used to store water for access at a later time. However, camels’ humps actually store fatty tissue, not water, which is used as a source of nourishment when food is scarce.

So why do camels store fat in these humps instead of having it spread equally throughout their bodies, like other mammals? Camels typically live in the desert, where food sources can be hard to come by. When a camel is unable to access food for a long period of time, its body is able to metabolize the fat in the humps for nutrition. The humps can deflate and droop if the camel has gone a particularly long time without food, but they will sit upright again once the camel is able to refuel. The camel’s humps also help the animal regulate its body temperature, an important feature in the desert, where temperatures can be extremely high during the day and drop drastically at night. By concentrating fatty tissue in humps on their backs, camels are able to minimize heat insulation throughout the rest of their body during the day when the temperature is high, and their body temperature rises. Then, at night, the extra heat dissipates through the rest of the camel’s body so that their body temperature is not too low when the temperature is cooler.

Although the humps do not store water, camels are still incredibly efficient in the amount of water they use per day, which is why they are able to go nearly a week without drinking. This is partly due to the unique shape of their blood cells, which are oval. Oval-shaped blood cells allow camels to consume large amounts of water (up to 30 gallons in one sitting!) since the cells are more elastic and can change shape more easily. This shape also allows their blood to flow more easily when water is scarce, which is common in a desert.

A camel’s humps are incredibly important for the animal’s survival in a tough environment like a desert. Without its humps, a camel would be more likely to overheat and sweat—but it’s still the oval-shaped blood cells that help the camel retain so much water, not the humps.