Prongbuck 227 



graph. Man flatters himself that he was the first inventor of 

 flash communication, but he is wrong — the Antelope used it 

 thousands of generations before it was dreamed of by mankind. 

 The bristling mane of the species is erected under excite- 

 ment at the same time with the disks. 



Many animals are furnished with glands that produce a glands 

 strong-smelling stuff that serves in some cases as a defence, but 

 mostly as a method of intercommunication. A peccary has a 

 scent-gland on its back, a Deer has one in each foot and on 

 the hock; a goat has several about the head. The Antelope 

 has every one of these various smellers, each tainting the ad- 

 joining air in a way of its own, and doubtless for a purpose that 

 none other could answer. 



There are numerous theories as to the purpose of the 

 glandular system. Judge Caton thinks that these many pun- 

 gent odours help to protect the Antelope from flies and 

 mosquitoes, but it seems more likely that their chief service 

 is for intercommunication. 



The glands on the jaw seem related to the sexual sys- 

 tem, as they are largest in the buck and most active in rutting 

 time; those on the rump, as seen, have a place in the helio- 

 graphic system; and the purpose of the others, though not yet 

 understood, is almost certainly to serve in conveying the news. 



How can they do so .? As possible answer to this, rather 

 than as ascertained fact, I suggest that an Antelope passes 

 along a certain olain, eating at one place, drinking at another, 

 lying down in a third, being pursued by a Wolf for half a mile, 

 when the Wolf gives up the unequal race, and the Antelope 

 escapes at his ease. A second Antelope comes along. For 

 him the foot-scent from the interdigital glands marks the 

 course taken by his fellow as clearly as the track in the snow 

 would do for us. Its strength tells him somewhat of the time 

 elapsed since it was made, and its individuality shows whether 

 his predecessor was a stranger or a personal friend just as 

 surely as a dog can tell his master's track. Again, the hock- 

 scent exuded on the plants or ground where the first animal 



