174 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



observer, Mr. Belt, in his ' Naturalist in Nicaragua,' wherein he 

 described that animal as going '" leisurely along, holding up his 

 white tail as a danger flag for none to come within range of his 

 nauseous artillery." A similar observation was subsequently 

 made by Mr. Wallace in North America, who reaffirmed the 

 theory, and explained its cogency by the argument that for such 

 animals it was " important that they should not be mistaken for 

 defenceless or eatable species of the same class or order, since in 

 that case they might suffer injury or even death before their 

 enemies discovered the danger or the uselessness of the attack."* 

 But the American Mink (Mustela vison) — as is the case with 

 Minks generally — is described by Dr. Coues as second only to 

 the Skunk in the possession of an extremely offensive effluvium, 

 and yet it is of a more or less uniform coloration, and certainly 

 is provided with nothing that can be described as " warning 

 colours." And although the Malayan Badger (Mydans meliceps), 

 which possesses an extremely evil odour, is somewhat similarly 

 marked as the Skunk, and with the tip of its short stumpy tail 

 whitish, it is described as a purely nocturnal animal. Gymnura 

 rafflesi is another animal generally considered as nocturnal in its 

 habits, and with the terminal third of its rat-like tail usually 

 white. According to Mrs. W. P. Pryer, in Borneo, the smell 

 which this animal emits is insufferable, and hangs about for a 

 long time ; it is so overpowering, " that I have once or twice 

 awakened from a sound sleep owing to one of these animals 

 having simply passed below the house. "t If the colour of the 

 Skunk is a product of Natural Selection, slowly acquired for 

 protective — i.e. in this case, warning — purposes, it is at least 

 surprising that other nauseous animals are not similarly pro- 

 tected. An equally probable suggestion, that of inherited intelli- 

 gence on the part of its enemies is as likely to be the explanation. 

 In fact, there is nothing to prove that its scent alone is not the 



Crowned Harpy Eagle ; but, although D'Orbigny's statement is, according to 

 Mr. Hudson, " pure conjecture," Mr. Hudson admits that most of the Eagles 

 shot by himself in Patagonia, including a dozen Chilian Eagles and one 

 Crowned Harpy, smelt of Skunk, Pumas also sometimes commit the same 

 mistake, for their fur in some cases smells strongly of Skunk (Beddard, 

 'Animal Coloration,' 2nd ed. p. 178). 



* ' Darwinism,' p. 232. 



t " A Decade in Borneo,' p. 75. 



