The Descent of Man

The rank effluvium of the male goat is well
known, and that of certain male deer is wonderfully
strong and persistent. On the banks of
the Plata I perceived the air tainted with the
odour of the male Cervus campestris, at half a
mile to leeward of a herd; and a silk handkerchief,
in which I carried home a skin, though
often used and washed, retained, when first
unfolded, traces of the odour for one year and
seven months. This animal does not emit its
strong odour until more than a year old, and if
castrated whilst young never emits it. (10.
Rengger, 'Naturgeschichte der Saugethiere von
Paraguay,' 1830, s. 355. This observer also gives
some curious particulars in regard to the
odour.) Besides the general odour, permeating
the whole body of certain ruminants (for instance,
Bos moschatus) in the breeding-season,
many deer, antelopes, sheep, and goats possess
odoriferous glands in various situations, more
especially on their faces. The so-called tearsacks,
or suborbital pits, come under this head.