118 The Naturalist in La Plata. 
has touched his dancing shoes! Springing into the 
saddle he proceeds to his journey’s end, is warmly 
welcomed by his host, and speedily forgetting his 
slight misadventure, mingles with a happy crowd of 
friends. In a little while people begin exchanging 
whispers and significant glances; men are seen 
smiling at nothing in particular; the hostess wears 
a clouded face; the ladies cough and put their 
scented handkerchiefs to their noses, and presently 
they begin to feel faint and retire from the room. 
Our hero begins to notice that there is something 
wrong, and presently discovers its cause; he, un- 
happily, has been the last person in the room to 
remark that familiar but most abominable odour, 
rising like a deadly exhalation from the floor, con- 
quering all other odours, and every moment becom- 
ing more powerful. A drop has touched his shoe 
after all; and fearing to be found out, and edging 
towards the door, he makes his escape, and is 
speedily riding home again; knowing full well that 
his sudden and early departure from the scene will 
be quickly discovered and set down to the right 
cause. 
In that not always trustworthy book The Natural 
Tistory of Chili, Molina tells us how they deal with 
the animal in the trans-Andine regions. ‘ When 
one appears,” he says, “‘ some of the company begin 
by caressing it, until an opportunity offers for one 
of them to seize it by the tail. In this position the 
muscles become contracted, the animal is unable to 
eject its fluid, and is quickly despatched.” One 
might just as well talk of caressing a cobra de 
capello ; yet this laughable fiction finds believers 
