MEPHITIS MEPHJTK A 



77 



odor generally remains noticeable for weeks, and sometimes for 

 months, about the place where one has been killed. The condition 

 of the atmosphere has much to do in determining- this matter, for the 

 more humid the air and the higher the temperature, the farther is the 

 scent discernible, and the longer does it last. Under favorable con- 

 ditions it is certainly distinctly recognizable at the distance of a mile, 

 and DeKay quotes a statement from the Medical Repository that 

 a Dr. Wiley, of Block Island, " distinctly perceived the smell of a 

 Skunk, although the nearest land was twenty miles distant "!* 



There is a marked difference in the intensity of the scent in dif- 

 ferent Skunks, and I am persuaded that it is due, chiefly, to the age of 

 the animal whence it emanates. It is not impossible that there may 

 also be a difference due to the length of time that the secretion has 



< 



been retained, /. c.< that it is not so rank and overpowering when 

 recently secreted as when there has been no discharge for some time- 

 when it seems to have become concentrated. 



When recently ejected the fumes from this liquid are overpower- 

 ingly pungent, and extremely irritating to the air passages; and, I 

 have no doubt, are as capable of producing cedema of the glottis as 

 the fumes from stronger ammonia. When inhaled without the ad- 

 mixture of a large amount of atmospheric air the unhappy victim 

 loses consciousness and breathes stertorously, the temperature falls 

 and the pulse slackens, and if the inhalation were prolonged the re- 

 sult would doubtless prove fatal. 



* Zoology of New York, Mammals, 1842, p. 30. 



f In connection \\ith the foregoing remarks, I introduce the following clipping, which has gone 

 the rounds of the Medical press : 



" SKUNK PERFUME AS AN ANESTHETIC. Dr. W. B. Conway ( Virginia Medical Monthly, August, 

 iSSi) reports a case where roguish school-boys caused one of their number to inhale fiom a two- 

 ounce phial an unknown quantity of Skunk perfume. The effects produced were total unconscious- 

 ness, muscular relaxation, a temperature of 94 and pulse of 65, together with cool extremities. The 

 respiration and pupils were normal. The patient soon recovered under hot pediluvia and stimu- 

 lants. The Skunk perfume is rather an unpleasant substance to experiment with, still, those en- 

 dowed with anosmia might obtain results of value from similar experiments with it." 



Dr. Conway (of Blacksburg, Va.) further stated that the patient " remained for one hour " in a 

 state of " total unconsciousness." During that time the Doctor " administered small quantities of 

 whiskey at short intervals," having " some difficulty in getting him to swallow. . . . He was 

 finally aroused, suffering no inconvenience from its effects except a slight headache, which passed 

 off after a good night's sleep." (Virg. Med. Month., Vol. VIII, No. 5, Aug., iSSi, pp. 359-360.) 



