214 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 



The supposed conuectiou between the suppression of the secre- 

 tion and the possibility of inoculating hydrophobia is treated 

 beyond under head of "iabies mephitica". 



There is one point connected with the varying offensiveness 

 of the substance which has received little attention. It is cer- 

 tain that if its penetration were correspondent with actual 

 quantity of the substance present, no dissection of the parts 

 of a vigorous animal would be reasonably practicable. But the 

 tluid, like other highly odoriferous substances, is perceptible in 

 degree according to its diffusion in the air by minute division 

 of particles. This is well illustrated under the annoying and 

 too frequent circumstance of a Skunk taking up its abode be- 

 neath dwelling-houses for the winter, which season is passed 

 in a state of incomplete hibernation in some latitudes. At 

 irregular intervals, the animal arouses, and, to judge from the 

 effluvium, empties its distended pouches ; but the stench, 

 when thus caused, soon ceases, as is not the case when it is 

 spirted under irritation or in self-defence. 



Chloride of lime has been recommended as the most effectual 

 disinfectant, and there are doubtless other agents which, by 

 chemically decomposing the substance, deprive it of its oiieu- 

 sive properties. The professional "earth treatment", of late 

 extensively employed in hospital practice, was long anticipated 

 in this connection, it being a common custom to bury clothes 

 in ground to rid them of the scent. There is also said to be a 

 belief among trappers that the odor may be dispelled by pack- 

 ing the clothes for a few days in fresh hemlock boughs. 



The physiological role of this special secretion is obvious. 

 Its relation to the perpetuation of the species, though over- 

 shadowed by its exaggeration into a powerfully effective means 

 of preservation of the individual, is evidently the same as in 

 other species of Miistelidw, each one of which has its own ema- 

 nation to bring the sexes together, not only by simply indicat- 

 ing their whereabouts, but by serving as a positive attraction. 

 In the case of the Skunk, it would seem that the strong scent 

 has actually tended to result in a more gregarious mode of life 

 than is usual in this family of mammals; and it is certain, at 

 any rate, that the occupancy by one animal of a permanent 

 winter abode serves to attract others to the same retreat. 

 Burrows are sometimes found to contain as many as a dozen 

 individuals, not members of one family, but various adult 

 animals drawn together. One other effect of the possession of 



