212 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELTD.E. 



body from the forehead to the groin, was too offensive to be 

 skinned, though it died without a perceptible struggle, and 

 had certainly not opened its reservoir up to the moment when 

 shot. Nevertheless, there is abundant evidence that life may 

 be taken in such manner that the flesh is eatable, with due care 

 in the i^reparation of the carcase ; and the meat is said to form 

 a regular part of the food of some savage tribes and semi- 

 civilized people. I have seen it stated that emission does not 

 take place when the animal is captured in a deadfall in such 

 way that the small of the back is broken by the falling weight. 

 The "staying" qualities of the effluvium are certainly wonder- 

 ful ; some of the accounts seem incredible, yet they are well 

 attested. Audubon says that at a place where a Skunk had 

 been killed in autumn, the scent was still tolerably strong after 

 the snows had thawed away the following spring. The same 

 author adds that the odor is stronger by night and in damp 

 weather than under the opposite circumstances } and, in speak- 

 ing of tainted clothes, he continues : — " Washing and exposure 

 to the atmosphere certainly weaken the scent, but the wearer 

 of clothes that have been thus infected, should he accidentally 

 stand near the fire in a close room, may chance to be mortified 

 by being reminded that he is not altogether free from the con- 

 sequences of an unpleasant hunting excursion." The persist- 

 ence of the scent in museum specimens depends altogether 

 upon circumstances. Some specimens, in which the fluid had 

 apparently not been discharged at death, and in which care had 

 been taken in the preparation, come directly into our hands with 

 little or no scent ; in others, those probably in which the pelage 

 had become impregnated, or in which the fluid had escaped 

 upon surrounding parts, retain their characteristic odor for 

 many years, whether immersed in alcohol, or dried and buried in 

 tobacco-leaves, insect-powder, and other vegetable aromatics. 

 I have also noticed that the scent may be drawn out of seem- 

 ingly odorless specimens, after several 3*ears' keeping, by plac- 

 ing them in the sun. But in proof of the possibility of absolute 

 freedom from scent may be instanced the use, especially of late 

 years, of Skunk furs as wearing apparel, immunity being gained 

 by processes similar to those used by furriers in purifying the 

 pelts of other MiisteUdcv, as well as of Wolves, Foxes, &c. The 

 enduring and mortifying consequences of actual contact of the 

 fluid with the person or the clothing, as well as of its dissemi- 

 nation in dwellings and outhouses, can hardly be exaggerated. 



