ANIMAL SENSE PERCEPTIONS. 169 



who would otherwise seize it as prey, and its peculiar markings 

 are held by many as constituting " warning colours," thus 

 increasing its protection ; these same all-pervading odours must 

 serve to advertise its presence and alarm its own prey, such as 

 Mice, Salamanders, and Frogs, unless these animals are deficient 

 in this sense perception. This seems evident when we read that 

 the smell " is so durable, that the spot where a Skunk has been 

 killed will often retain the scent for days, or even weeks ; indeed, 

 Audubon relates that at one place where a Skunk had been 

 killed in the autumn, the odour was quite perceptible in the 

 following spring, after the snow had melted."* Frank Buckland 

 relates that a brother officer, just returned from an American 

 trip, told him that one day, as the train was rattling along at a 

 great pace, " all of a sudden a most terrible smell came into the 

 carriage. 'Oh! that's nothing,' said a passenger; 'we have just 

 run over a Skunk' — which was the case. The Skunk's smell 

 kept up with the train for many miles, though it was going at 

 express pace." f A species of the same animal (Mephistis pata- 

 gonica) was killed by Mr. Cunningham's party in Patagonia, and 

 the cap of its destroyer, which had happened to come in contact 

 with the animal, "was for ever afterwards rendered useless."! 

 Dr. Leith Adams remembered driving one dark night, along a 

 highway, when the effluvium of a Skunk was perceived for nearly 

 two miles. § Dr. Merriam describes it as " slow in movement 

 and deliberate in action, and does not often hurry himself in 

 whatever he does. His ordinary gait is a measured walk, but 

 when pressed for time he breaks into a slow, shuffling gallop." 

 This slow-moving creature, emitting this awful stench around it, 

 must necessarily give an early alarm to all animals whose busi- 

 ness it is to get out of its way, and thus by a principle of com- 

 pensation the advantages acquired by protection from enemies 

 are, by the same special means, discounted by the greater diffi- 

 culty of procuring food. || For if, as is well known, the offensive 



* Cf. W. K. & T. J. Parker, ' Cass. Nat. Hist.' vol. ii. p. 196. 



f ' Curios. Nat. Hist.' Pop. edit. ser. 2, p. 119, note. 



I ' Notes, Nat. Hist. Strait of Magellan,' p. 110. 



§ ' Field and Forest Rambles,' pp. 66-7. 



|l The same remark applies to at least some of the Australian snakes. The 

 " OldBushman" writes : — " There is a strong scent peculiar to the Australian 

 snakes, and I have often smelt one long before I saw it" ('Bush Wanderings 



