At 01:54 PM 4/7/02 -0700, Ravenwood wrote:
> >> Very good! But what is Ethyl Mercaptan by the way?
>
> I believe it's got the world record for "Most foul-smelling substance
>Known to Man."
> Very similar to what skunks spray, which is Byutil Mercaptan, I
> believe.
Grabbing from an old post to alt.skunks by Brad Kessler:
===
In 1990, however, William F Wood thinks he finally got it right.
* For Striped Skunks (Mephitis mephitis) the composition turned out to be:
trans-2-Butenyl thioacetate (12-18%)
trans-2-Butene-1-thiol (38-44%)
3-Methylbutanyl thioacetate (2-3%)
3-Methyl-1-butanethiol (18-26%)
2-Methylquinoline (4-11%)
2-Quinolinemethyl thioacetate (1-4%)
2-Quinolinemethanethiol (3-12%)
(Ranges are min and max percentages for all skunks examined)
No 1-Butanethiol (although the two main thiols are minor variations of
it).
===
--
Phoenix
Received on Sun Apr 07 2002 - 20:13:41 CDT