THE SCENT OF THE SKUNK. 211 



reservoir, and their sole use is to eject the liquid. The teat- 

 like projections have one large orifice for a distant jet of the 

 substance, and also a strainer, with numerous holes — like the 

 holes in the cones in the human kidney — for a near but diifu- 

 sive jetting of the matter [?]. The substance is secreted by 

 small glands, dark in color, and of small calibre, connected 

 with the capsule by narrow ducts." 



We gather from these accounts that, as already intimated, the 

 secretory apparatus of this species is essentially the same as that 

 of Conepatus, described at length by M. Chatin. It is, of course, 

 no longer necessary to refute the vulgar notions once prevalent, 

 that the secretion was that of the kidneys, whisked about by 

 the bushy tail. There remains little to be said on this subject. 

 The fluid is altogether peculiar and indescribable in odor, pun- 

 gent, penetrating, and persistent to a degree, perhaps, without 

 parallel, outside this subfamily, in the animal kingdom, though 

 probably not more subtilely diffusive than some other analogous 

 emanations. It has been called '' garlicky", but this is a mild 

 term. The distance to which the substance, in liquid form, can 

 be ejected, is, in the nature of the case, difficult to ascertain 

 with precision, and doubtless varies with the vigor of the ani- 

 mal and amount of accumulation in the reservoir. But there 

 is no doubt that the squirt reaches several (authors say from 

 four to fourteen) feet, while the aura is readily perceptible at 

 distances to be best expressed in fractions of the mile. The 

 appearance of the animal during the act of emission is unmis- 

 takable, as I have observed on several occasions. The zigzag 

 course, with mincing steps, by which it leisurely recedes from 

 a pursuer, is arrested for a moment, when the hinder parts are 

 raised and the tail elevated over the back, so that the long hairs, 

 heretofore trailing in one direction, fall in a tuft on all sides, 

 and the sense of smell immediately indicates what has taken 

 I)lace. The discharge is ordinarily invisible in the daytime, 

 but several observers attest a certain phosphorescence, which 

 renders the fluid luminous by night. This is doubtless true^ 

 though I have not verified it by actual observation. State- 

 ments to the effect that emission is impossible when the animal 

 is held suspended by the tail are, in the nature of the case, 

 not likely to be often proven by experiment. Nor have I found 

 that instantaneous death is always a sure preventive of 

 escape of effluvium. A Skunk which I shot with my pistol, 

 held within a foot of its head, the bullet traversing the whole 



