Chap. XVIIL] ODORS EMITTED. ' 267 



tear-sacs or suborbital pits come under this head. These 

 glands secrete a semifluid fetid matter, which is sometimes 

 so copious as to stain the whole face, as I have seen in the 

 case of an antelope. They are " usually larger in the male 

 than in the female, and their development is checked by 

 castration." " According to Desmarest they are altogether 

 absent in the female of Ant Hope subgutturosa. Hence, 

 there can be no doubt that they stand in some close rela- 

 tion with the reproductive functions. They are also 

 sometimes present, and sometimes absent, in nearly-allied 

 forms. In the adult male musk-deer (3foschus moscJiife- 

 rus), a naked space round the tail is bedewed with an 

 odoriferous fluid, while in the adult female, and in the 

 male, until two years old, this space is covered with hair, 

 and is not odoriferous. The proper musk-sac, from its 

 position, is necessarily confined to the male, and forms an 

 additional scent-organ. It is a singular fact that the mat- 

 ter secreted by this latter gland does not, according to 

 Pallas, change in consistence, or increase in quantity, 

 during the rutting-season ; nevertheless, this naturalist 

 admits that its presence is in some way connected with 

 the act of reproduction. He gives, however, only a con- 

 jectural and unsatisfactory explanation of its use. 13 



In most cases, when during the breeding-season the 

 male alone emits a strong odor, this probably serves to ex- 

 cite or allure the female. We must not judge on this head 

 by our own taste, for it is well known that rats are 

 enticed by certain essential oils, and cats by valerian T 

 substances which are far from agreeable to us ; and that 

 dogs, though they will not eat carrion, sniff and roll in it 



11 Owen, ' Anatomy of Vertebrates,' vol. lii. p. 632. See, also, Dr 

 Murie's observations on their glands in ' Proc. Zoolog. Soc.' 18*70, p. 34( 

 Desmarest, on the Antilope subgutturosa, ' Mammalogie,' 1820, p 455. 



12 Pallas, ' Spicilegia Zoolog.' fasc. xiii. 1*799, p. 24 ; Desmoulit t 

 Diet. Class. d'Hist. Nat.' torn. iii. p. 586. 



