Elephantiana. 163 



stinctively flee from man. The domesticated horse, 

 which has never seen a beast of prey, trembles with 

 terror at the smell of a distant menagerie ; but the lion 

 which inspired that terror is, in its wild state, quite as 

 much afraid of the odour of man. 



Let a lion but detect the dreaded emanation of 

 man, and he slinks off as quickly as he can. 



For, though we are happily unconscious of it, a 

 very powerful odour emanates from all human beings, 

 and strikes terror into wild animals. Deer-stalkers 

 know well that they must approach a stag against 

 the wind, for that even at the distance of a mile the 

 stag can detect, the presence of man, should the wind 

 blow from him and not to him. 



Similarly, the practical rat-catchers will never touch 

 a trap with bare hands. They wear gloves rubbed with 

 aniseed, and imbue the soles of their boots with the 

 same perfume, before they can venture to handle a 

 trap or to walk near the spot where the trap is set. 

 Inexperienced persons neglect these precautions, and 

 in consequence, the rat detects the dreaded odour of 

 man, and keeps aloof from it. 



Mole-catchers, again, always keep the skin of a 

 dead mole by them, and rub it between their hands, 

 before they set their trap, so as to overpower the 

 natural odour of the hand. 



Of course, there are some animals, such as lions, 

 tigers, and the like, which will attack and devour 

 human beings. But these are exceptional individuals, 

 being almost invariably the aged animals, which 

 have become too infirm to catch prey in the ordinary 

 fashion, and are reduced to lurking about villages and 

 pouncing upon any unwary straggler. 



It is well known that the skin of a "man-eater," 

 whether lion or tiger, is never worth preservation, 

 being mangy, bald in patches, and altogether un- 



