142 ASSOCIATION OF ORGANISMS—THE WEB OF LIFE 
There is good reason why they should, for, as Beddard says (in 
The Cambridge Natural History), “they owe, too, their safety 
from many foes to their sociable habits. Being nocturnal animals 
they are liable to the attacks of the jaguar, which will speedily 
overpower and devour a peccary that has strayed from its herd.” 
In Deer there is usually a scent-gland (the crumen) opening 
into a pit below the eye; so also in most Antelopes. The latter 
may also possess other scent-glands in the groin or between the 
toes. Bottle-shaped structures of the sort are found between the 
digits in Sheep (fig. 1107). It is 
interesting to note that a captive 
specimen of the Klipspringer An- 
telope (Oveotragus saltator) has 
been observed to deliberately de- 
posit upon various objects the secre- 
tion that oozes out under its eyes. 
Such a habit if practised under 
natural conditions would no doubt 
help these animals to find one an- 
other. But the glands in the feet 
of Sheep, &c., are of special interest 
here, for drops of the strong-smell- 
ing secretion must constantly be rig. s:07.—Foot of Sheep (Ovts artes] dissected 
Squeezed. ont on to the ground, Goawec.e 
leaving a well-marked “trail”. 
Many other examples of scent-glands might easily be given. 
The exact use no doubt varies in different cases, and may have 
nothing to do with the social habit proper. For example, an 
animal may thus be assisted in the search for a mate, and Beddard 
suggests that some scents are possibly of mimetic nature. The 
odour of the Musk-Deer is perhaps of this kind, for it may 
suggest to aggressors the musky smell of the Crocodile, an animal 
which they would think twice before attacking. Stink-glands 
as a direct defence have been spoken of elsewhere (see vol. ii, 
Pp. 301). 
