MEPHITIS MEPHJITCA 77 



odor generally remains noticeable for weeks, and sometimes for 

 months, about the place where one has been killed. The condition 

 of the atmosphere has much to do in determining- this matter, for the 

 more humid the air and the higher the temperature, the tarther is the 

 scent discernible, and the longer does it last. Under favorable con- 

 ditions it is certainly distinctly recognizable at the distance of a mile, 

 and DeKay quotes a statement from the Medical Repository that 

 a Dr. Wiley, of Block Island, " distinctly perceived the smell of a 

 Skunk, although the nearest land was twenty miles distant"!"' 



There is a marked difference in the intensity of the scent in dif- 

 ferent Skunks, and I am persuailcd that it is due, chiefl)', to the age of 

 the animal whence it emanates. It is not impossible that there may 

 also be a difterence due to the length of time that the secretion has 

 been retained, /. r.. that it is not so rank and overpowering when 

 recently secreted as when there has been no discharge for some time — 

 when it seems to have become concentrated. 



When recently ejected the fumes from this liquid are overpower- 

 ingly pungent, and extremely irritating to the air passages; and, I 

 have no doubt, are as capable of producing oedema of the glottis as 

 the fumes from stronger animonia. When inhaled without the ad- 

 mixture of a large amount ot atmospheric air the unhappy victim 

 loses consciousness and breathes stertorously, the temperature falls 

 and the pulse slackens, and if the inhalation vvere prolonged the re- 

 sult would doubtless prove fatal. f 



* Zoology of New York, Mammals, 1S42, p. 30. 



f In connection with the foregoing remarks, I introiliice the following clipping, which has gone 

 the rounds of the Medical press : 



" Skunk Perfume as an An.esthetic. — Dr. W. B. Conway ( l^irs^iiiia Medical Monthly, August, 

 1881) reports a case ,vhere roguish school-boys caused one of their number to inhale fiom a two- 

 ounce phial an unknown quantity of Skunk perfume. The effects produced were total unconscious- 

 ness, muscular relaxation, a temper.iture of 94 and pulse of 65, together with cool extremities. The 

 respiration and pupils were normal. The patient soon recovered under hot pcdiluvia and stimu- 

 lants. The Skunk perfume is rather an unpleasant substance to experiment witli, still, those en- 

 dowed with anosmia might obtain results of value from similar experiments with it." 



Dr. Conway (of Blacksburg, Va.) furtlier stated that the patient " remained for one hciur " in a 

 state of "total unconsciousness." During tliat time the Doctor " adniuiistcred small (piantitles of 

 whiskey at short intervals," having " some difficulty in getting him to swallow. . . . lie was 

 finally aroused, suffering no inconvenience from its effects except a slight headache, which passed 

 off after a good niglit's sleep." (Virg. Med. Month., V.il. Vlll, No. 5, Aug., iSSi, pp. 359-360.) 



