MAMMALS— ODORS EMITTED. 525 



permeating the whole body of certain ruminants (for instance. 

 Bos moschatus) in the breeding-season, many deer, antelopes, 

 sheep, and goats, possess odoriferous glands in various situations, 

 more especially on their faces. The so-called tear-sacks, or sub- 

 orbital pits, come under this head. These glands secrete a semi- 

 fluid fetid matter which is sometimes so copious as to stain Ihe 

 whole face, as I have myself seen in an antelope. They are 

 "usually larger in the male than in the female, and their devel- 

 "opment is checked by castration."" According to Desmarest they 

 are altogether absent in the female of Antilope subgutturosa. 

 Hence, there can be no doubt that they stand in close relation with 

 the reproductive functions. They are also sometimes present, 

 and sometimes absent, in nearly-allied forms. In the adult male 

 musk-deer (Moschus moschiferus), a naked space round the tall 

 is bedewed with an odoriferous fluid, whilst in the adult female, 

 and in the male until two years old, this space is covered with 

 hair and is not odoriferous. The proper musk-sack of this deer 

 is from its position necessarily confined to the male, and forms 

 an additional scent-organ. It is a singular fact that the matter 

 secreted by the latter gland does not, according to Pallas, change 

 in consistence, or increase in ciuantity, during the rutting-season; 

 nevertheless this naturalist admits that its presence is in some 

 way connected with the act of reproduction. He gives, however, 

 only a conjectural and unsatisfactory explanation of its use.'^ 



In most cases, when only the male emits a strong odor during 

 the breeding-season, it pfobably serves to excite or allure the fe- 

 male. We must not judge on this head by our own taste, for it 

 is well known that rats are enticed by certain essential oils, and 

 cats by valerian, substances far from agreeable to us; and that 

 dogs, though they will not eat carrion, sniff and roll on it. From 

 the reasons given when discussing the voice of the stag, we may 

 reject the idea that the odor serves to bring the females from a 

 distance to the males. Active and long-continued use cannot 

 here have come into play, as in the case of the vocal organs. The 

 odor emitted must be of considerable importance to the male, 

 inasmuch as large and complex glands, furnished with muscles 

 for everting the sack, and for closing or opening the orifice, have 

 in some cases been developed. The development of these organs 

 is intelligible through sexual selection, if the most odoriferous 

 males are the most successful in winning the females, and in 



^ Owen, 'Anatomy of Vertebrates,' vol. iii. p. 632. See, also, Dr. 

 Murie's observations on these glands in the 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc' 1870, 

 p. 340. Desmarest, on the Antilope subgutturosa, 'Mammalogie,' 1820, 

 p. -155. 



" Pallas, 'Spiollegia Zoolog-.' fasc. xiii. 1799, p. 24; Desmoulins, 'Diet. 

 Class, a' Hist. Nat.' torn. iii. p. 586. 



