MEPHITIS MEPHITICA 
77 
odor generally remains noticeable for weeks, and sometimes for 
months, about the place where one has been killed. The condition 
of the atmosphere has much to do in determining this matter, for the 
more humid the air and the higher the temperature, the farther is the 
scent discernible, and the longer does it last. Under favorable con- 
ditions it is certainly distinctly recognizable at the distance of a mile, 
and DeKay quotes a statement from the Medical Repository that 
a Dr. Wiley, of Block Island, “ distinctly perceived the smell of a 
Skunk, although the nearest land was twenty miles distant”!* 
There is a marked difference in the intensity of the scent in dif- 
ferent Skunks, and I am persuaded that it is due, chiefly, to the age of 
the animal whence it emanates. It is not impossible that there may 
also be a difference due to the length of time that the secretion has 
been retained, i. e., that it is not so rank and overpowering when 
recently secreted as when there has been no discharge for some time — 
when it seems to have become concentrated. 
When recently ejected the fumes from this liquid are overpower- 
ingly pungent, and extremely irritating to the air passages; and, I 
have no doubt, are as capable of producing oedema of the glottis as 
the fumes from stronger ammonia. When inhaled without the ad- 
mixture of a large amount of atmospheric air the unhappy victim 
loses consciousness and breathes stertorously, the temperature falls 
and the pulse slackens, and if the inhalation were prolonged the re- 
sult would doubtless prove fatal. f 
* Zoology of New York, Mammals, 1842, p. 30. 
f In connection with the foregoing remarks, I introduce the following clipping, which has gone 
the rounds of the Medical press : 
‘ ‘ Skunk Perfume as an Anaesthetic. — Dr. W. B. Conway ( Virginia Medical Monthly, August, 
1881) reports a case where roguish school-boys caused one of their number to inhale from a two- 
ounce phial an unknown quantity of Skunk perfume. The effects produced were total unconscious- 
ness, muscular relaxation, a temperature of 94 and pulse of 65, together with cool extremities. The 
respiration and pupils were normal. The patient soon recovered under hot pediluvia and stimu- 
lants. The Skunk perfume is rather an unpleasant substance to experiment with, still, those en- 
dowed with anosmia might obtain results of value from similar experiments with it.” 
Dr. Conway (of Blacksburg, Va.) further stated that the patient “ remained for one hour ” in a 
state of “total unconsciousness.” During that time the Doctor “ administered small quantities of 
whiskey at short intervals,” having “some difficulty in getting him to swallow. . . . Pie was 
finally aroused, suffering no inconvenience from its effects except a slight headache, which passed 
off after a good night’s sleep.” (Virg. Med. Month., Vol. VIII, No. 5, Aug., 1881, pp. 359-360.) 
