THE STORY OF THE SKUNK 
The most ill-favored of all American animals is the skunk, owing to the 
odor of a secretion which it is able to eject with great force. The secretion 
is contained in a pair of glands and is ejected only when the creature is 
attacked or irritated. 
So forcibly can the amber-colored fluid be ejected that it will carry from 
a distance of thirteen feet to a little over sixteen feet. It appears that there 
is a marked difference in the intensity of the odor of the secretion in differ¬ 
ent individuals of the common skunk, which is probably in part due to the 
age of the animal, and in part to the length of time which has elapsed since 
the preceding discharge took place. When freshly ejected, the fumes from 
the secretion are pungent and acrid in the extreme, and are capable of 
producing extensive swelling of the respiratory passages. When inhaled 
without the admixture 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 results 
would doubtless prove fatal. 
The following story shows the lasting effect and strength of even one 
drop of skunk secretion : 
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