GKEGARIOUS QUADRUPEDS. 369 



name Mephitis. Their various species inhabit the cold and 

 temperate regions of North and South America ; and, implicitly 

 relying on the strength of their talisman, they fly from no enemy, 

 not even from man. Such is the intolerable odour of the 

 secretion from their glandular pouches, which they have the 

 power of ejecting on their pursuers, that the least quantity 

 suffices to produce nausea and a sense of suffocation. 



Prompted by the powerful instinct of self-preservation, many 

 of the quadrupeds, singly too weak to oppose an effectual resist- 

 ance to the attacks of their enemies, find an additional strength 

 in the power of union. Thus, when assaulted by the jaguar, 

 the wild oxen of the American llanos or grass-plains of the 

 Orinoco form a ring, in the centre of which they place their 

 calves, while the stronger animals turn their horns towards the 

 enemy. 



The wild horses of America likewise march in columns these 

 troops being headed by a vigorous male chief, who is constantly 

 at their head, on travel or in battle, and is invariably followed 

 under all circumstances. When the herd is disturbed by any 

 object, they approach it within a certain distance, having the 

 strongest individuals at their head, examine it attentively, and 

 describe one or more circles round it. If it does not appear dan- 

 gerous, they approach with precaution ; but if the chiefs recog- 

 nise any danger, and give an example of flight, they are instantly 

 followed by the whole troop. 



The peccari, a small hoglike pachyderm of South America, 

 roams in herds of several hundreds through the tropical forest. 

 When attacked, the whole band rushes furiously upon the 

 enemy, so that even the puma and the jaguar do not venture 

 to assault the main body, but merely hang on the outskirts 

 ready to catch some unfortunate straggler. 



For greater security the gregarious quadrupeds frequently set 

 out a watch, upon whose steady attention they implicitly rely. 

 When a troop of chamois is grazing in some Alpine solitude, 

 one of the band, stationed at a short distance, is seen to cast an 

 inquisitive glance around, or to raise its head, carefully sniffing 

 the air, while the others are grazing or tilting at each other 

 with their horns like frolicsome goats or deer. But as soon as the 

 sentinel, espying danger, utters his shrill note of warning, they 



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