974 MR. R. 1. rococK ox the [June 14, 



perioilically, in tlio course of the day. A liind, for exaiuple, wliicli 

 leaves her newly drojiped fawn in the jungle or l)u.sh while she in 

 away feeding, must ha\e some means of retracing her steps to the 

 spot ; and it may well be that she does so hy means of the scent 

 her own foot-tracks have left. 



This ol)vious criticism of Owen's reasons for rejecting the 

 theory lias no doubt suggested itself to others ; for the view that 

 the secretion of the scent- glands serves to guide individuals of a 

 species, whether gi-egarious or not, to one another appears to be 

 connnonly held, and was clearly expressed by Flower and Lydekker 

 in their volume on the 'Mammalia' (pp. 315-316). That the 

 secretion from the pedal glands must scent the ground over 

 which the animal passes seems clear, for the pouch is commonly 

 furnished with long hairs projecting from the orifice or the edge of 

 the orifice, and the function of these hairs seems to be to guide the 

 secretion downwards betw^een the hoofs, Similarl}^ the substance 

 secreted by the tarsal, metatarsal, and carpal glands would touch 

 against higher herbage, and might leave a taint behind. But 

 the position of these glands suggests that their function is also 

 to indicate where the animal has been lying. In the habitual 

 resting attitude of Ruminants, the area below the knee (carpus) 

 on both the front legs is pressed to the grourd, and in the case 

 of the Cei'vidje the metatarsal gland on the outside of one hind 

 leg and the tarsal gland on the inner side of the other in the 

 same way come simultaneously into contact with the .soil Avhether 

 it be baie or ovei-grown with vegetation. Isow the Deer which 

 possess these glands on the hind legs have no inguinal pits or 

 knee glands. Conversely the Bovidse, which have no tarsal or 

 metatarsal glands, not luicommonly possess inguinal pits and 

 sometimes knee glands. The suggestion, therefore, is obvious 

 that the inguinal pits of 8heep and many Antelopes, so-called, 

 represent functionally the tarsal and metatarsal glands of the Deer 

 and scent the ground where the animal has been lying. 



It is clear that the above proposed explanation of the use of 

 the inguinal and crural glands applies equally well to species 

 which inhabit jungle, plain, sandy desert, or barren mountain 

 heights. It is therefore more satisfactory than the vieAv that the 

 scent of the secretion is only left behind on the vegetation by the 

 animal's pass<Tge tln-ough it. Sheep, for example, which possess 

 inguinal glands, frefpient hilly comitry, feeding on grass often not 

 high enough to reach the inguinal region. Exce]it, therefore, 

 A\hen these animals are in a state of repose the secretion of these 

 glands can seldom be left bchiiul adhering to natural objects. 

 It is also likely that one individual can follow^ another or detect 

 his whereabouts by the wafting of the scent through the air, 

 irrespective of contact with the ground. This wafting of scent 

 is probably the sole function of the caudal glands of Gonts (Copra), 

 which can in no circumstances dispose of their secretion by con- 

 tact with the soil, iniless a certain amount of it falls to the ground 

 sticking to the fa'ces. He it noted, too, that the habit of turninc: 



