THE MYSTERY EXPLAINED loi 



he would not attack a sleeping child found in the 

 desert, however hungry he may be. 



In all these cases, as in that of the wolf and wolf- 

 child, the explanation is the same — the savage beast 

 has been disarmed by the scent of the person. In 

 the case of the jaguar and the bear, we can only say 

 that there was a quality in the odour of the children 

 which stimulated the parental passion. The case of 

 the puma is more difficult, but here too it can only be 

 supposed that some quality in the human odour has 

 the effect of overcoming the rapacious instinct. 



We may suppose that the odour suggests one that 

 is familiar and grateful to the animal; it may be the 

 odour of its young or something else; impossible 

 perhaps to discover, as in the familiar case of our 

 domestic cat's love of the smell of valerian. 



