07C Mij. R. I. rucocK ON Tin; [June 14, 



for example, that tlie ^'laiid is in some cases imdei' the influence 

 of other emotions than tliat of sexual excitement. A male Black- 

 huck, for instance, arlvancin^ upon a man with iio.stile intent, turns 

 up his tail, and everts the f^Iand to its ftdle.st extent ; and I have 

 seen a Sambar stag with ears pricked, nostrils dilated, and gland 

 completely evei-ted, gazing intently at a cat crossing the yard, hi.s 

 whole attitude foi-cibly suggestive of curiosity and doubt with a 

 strong admixture of fear. 



The habit of rubbing the secretion of the preorbital gland 

 again.st the bai-s of cages or other objects was recorded by Bennett 

 of Antilope cerricupra, by Ogilby * of a species of Gazelle, and by 

 ]\lr. Beddard + of Oreotrac/us. Ogilby, indeetl, .speaks of this act 

 as freipient. In uiy experience it is uncommon. I have only 

 noticed sudi behaviour in one Antelope, an immature example of 

 IMaxwt'U's Duiker, which invariably I'ubbed its gland against my 

 proiiered hand, exactly as a cat i-ubs its mouth and cheek. Con- 

 sidering the immatuiity of the .specimen in question, I cannot 

 believe that sexual excitement was in any sense tlie cause of the 

 action. It may thei-efore be the case, as Ogilby suggested, that 

 " rubbing the crumens against the .shrubs or .stones of their 

 de.sert and mountiiin habitats . . . may serve to direct [Antelopes] 

 in their wanderings and migration.*?, when the storms and fogs 

 incident to such places ob.scure all visible lantlmarks." As 

 guide marks, therefore, ajipeal to the sense of sight and enable 

 the mendiers of a species to follow one another and keep 

 together when vision is unobstructed, .so, it is believed, do the 

 scent-glands described in this pajier serve the .same purpo.se by 

 .•ipj)e;iling to the .sense of smell when, for any reason, free vision 

 is [)rohibited. 



It wouhl be itlle, however, to pretend that this hypothesis 

 gives a full explanation of the use of the glands. It fails, for 

 example, to account for the fact that in many, jierhaps all, c^Lses 

 each gland emits its own peculiar scent, a.s i-ecorded, for in.stance, 

 of a Muntjac {Cervalus) and of a Gazelle {G. dorcas). That 

 e;ich scent tells its own tale to other members of the .species, it is 

 almost impossible to doubt; but what that tale may be, I am 

 wholly unable to surmise. 



Orlyiii and Kcolntioii of the Glands. 



The preorbital glands in all the Gervida\ and in the majoiity of 

 ]ioviihc that po.s.se.ss them, consist of an integumental thickening 

 forming a larger or smaller invagin:»te<l .sac, which serves to store 

 the secretion. lUit in a few of the Bovida^, like the Duikers 

 (C('])h(dnp]nis), the Gnus {('nnnnclnrtrn n\\i\ (,'nri/nii), Buftbn's Kob 

 {Admota knh), and the S.ible Antelope {/fipj)Otra(/i(.<t inyer), there 

 is no invagination, the .seci-etion m.-tking its way direct! v to the 

 exposed surface of the skin. The simplest type of preorbitjil 



• P. Z.S. 18 k), P.O. 



t ' .Mimimaliii,' Tlic (.'iimlniilp- Xiitiuiil Ili^t(n;c, p. 13 (1002). 



