THE SCENT OF THE SKUNK. 213 



but require no further commeut, as these matters have fur- 

 nished standing accounts since the history of the species began. 



It seems, however, that the disgusting qualities of the sub- 

 stance have been given undue prominence, to neglect of a much 

 more important and serious matter. The danger to the eye- 

 sight, should the acrid and pungent fluid actually fall upon the 

 eyes, should not be forgotten. Dogs are not seldom perma- 

 B'ently blinded by the discharge, and there are authentic cases 

 /yin which human beings have lost their sight in the same way. 

 Sir John Kichardson alludes, on the authority of Mr. Graham, 

 to the cases of " several ^' Indians who had lost their eyesight 

 in consequence of inflammation resulting from this cause. 



The effect upon dogs is described by Audubon and Bach- 

 man: — " The instant", they say, "a dog has received a discharge 

 , of this kind on his nose and eyes he appears half distracted, 

 plunging his nose into the earth, rubbing the sides of his face 

 on the leaves and grass, and rolling in every direction. V^'e 

 have known several dogs, from the eyes of which the swelling 

 and inflammation caused by it did not disappear for a week." 



These authors also speak of the nauseating qualities of the 

 effluvium. "I have known a dead Skunk", says Sir John, 

 *' thrown over the stockades of a trading post, produce instant 

 nausea in several women in a house with closed doors upwards 

 of a hundred yards distant." " We recollect an instance," write 

 Audubon and Bachman, " when sickness of the stomach and 

 vomiting were occasioned, in several persons residing in Sara- 

 toga County, N. Y., in consequence of one of this species having 

 been killed under the floor of their residence during the night." 



The fluid has been put to medicinal use in the treatment of 

 asthma. One invalid is said to have been greatly benefit- 

 ed by the use of a drop three times a day ; but he was soon 

 obliged to discontinue the use of the remedy, owing to the in- 

 tolerably offensive character which all his secretions acquired. 

 The story is told* of an asthmatic clergyman who procured the 

 glands of a Skunk, which he kept tightly corked in a smelling- 

 bottle, to be applied to his nose when his symptoms appeared. 

 He believed he had discovered a specific for his distressing 

 malady, and rejoiced thereat ; but on one occasion he uncorked 

 his bottle in the pulpit, and drove his congregation out of 

 church. In both these cases, like many others, it is a question 

 of individual preference as between the remedy and the disease. 



* By Audubon and Bacbujau, Quad. N. A. i. o'23. 



