Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/90

 82 SKUNK SlinaL, an American carnivorous mammal of the weasel family, badger subfamily, and , n i m^SSii (Ouv.). It may be distmguisbed ?r,,m it/congeners by a more slender and rated body, pointed nose, feet adapted for dSg wi y 'the anterior claws the longest Jnd the soles usually naked, and a long bushy S3 T1.0 Hu ok teeth are *=*, the upper pos- terior being very large and nearly square; the he^U small, with a Projecting naked nose, small and piercing eyes and short and round i; the feet are short, with five closely united toes; the palms naked and the soles mo.tlv BO: thc-y are essentially plantig ade, -uul walk with the back much arched and the tail erect; they are nocturnal, and feed on ani- mal substances. Though weak, timid, and slow in their motions, they are effectually armed acainst the most ferocious enemies in an acrid and exceedingly offensive fluid secreted by elands whose ducts open near the anus; these glands are surrounded by a thick muscular covering, the contractions of which are suth- cient Reject the fluid to a distance of 14 ft. The common skunk (M. mepUtica, Shaw ; M. chinqn, Tiedm.) is from 16* to 20 in. long, the tail being 13 or 14 in. additional; the pre- vailing color is black, with a narrow line on the forehead, broad triangular patch on nape continuous with a narrow line on each side of the back, and tail tuft, white; the varia- tion is considerable, the white markings being widr in some specimens, and in others want- .,- pn-trrior third of the soles is hairy. When about to use ;ts natural means of de- fence, it raises its tail over the back, and ejects the secretion in two thread-like streams with great force and accuracy; it can also diffuse it in a fine spray on near objects ; it is almost impossible to remove the odor from clothes impregnated with it, and a dog which has been touched by it is a nuisance for months; it is said to be phosphorescent at night. It is a very cleanly animal, and never allows its own Common Skunk (Mephitis mephitlca). be soiled with its secretion. It some times commits havoc among hens, chicken .:ir*. but is far less injurious than th mink and weasels, and from its clumsiness SKUNK CABBAGE more easily detected; it feeds on small quad- upeds and birds, reptiles, insects, nuts, and ruits It has from six to nine young at a me, and would prove exceedingly annoying vere not great numbers killed by dogs and arnivorous mammals and birds, and caught n traps at the mouths of their burrows, which re generally near the surface, in level ground, nd 6 to 8 ft. in extent. They remain in their urrows in the northern states from December o the middle of February, laying up no win- er stores, but retiring in a very fat condition, nd remaining dull and inactive, though not properly hibernating. This species is abun- ] ant in the northern and middle states, and ound from lat. 57 N. to Florida and Louisi- ana and west to the Mississippi river. Its flesh is white and fat, and if properly skinned n no way tainted by its secretion ; it is highly esteemed* by the Indians, and is eaten by the whites in various parts of the country; the til, nearly pure oleine, is excellent for leather, jut is of no special use in medicine ; the fur is rather coarse, but is sometimes used for com- mon purposes, and of late years thousands of skins have been annually carried to Europe, where they make their appearance in various disguises. The secretion has been successful- y employed in some forms of asthma, in the dose of a drop three times a day, though it so taints the patient's excretions that the remedy is generally considered worse than the disease ; it has also been used as a powerful antispas- modic in asthma, hysteria, and other nervous disorders, applied to the nostrils. There are several other species in the United States, espe- cially in Texas and California. In an article in the " American Journal of Science " for May, 1874, Mr. Hovey says that this animal is very dangerous in the western states. It is often affected by a disease which renders its saliva so poisonous that its bite is more to be feared than that of the rattlesnake. He gives many instances in which persons sleeping on the ground have been bitten, generally with fatal, and always with dangerous consequences. SKUNK CABBAGE, a plant the peculiar odor and the large clusters of luxuriant leaves of which readily suggested the common name. Botanically it has received the names pathos, ictodes, dracontium, and others, but botanists have finally settled upon symplocarpus (Gr. ffvfnrhoKJj, connection, and apirdf, fruit, in ref- erence to the manner in which the ovaries form a connected or compound fruit). In all the different genera in which it has been placed, it retained the descriptive specific name fcetidus. It belongs to the arum family, which is well known through its handsome exotic represen- tative Richardia, the calla lily, or lily of the Nile. The skunk cabbage is one of our very earliest spring flowers, and appears in wet places from New England to North Carolina ; the flowers come long before the leaves in the latitude of New York, often as early as Febru- ary, and they are very abundant in March and