Scent glands in mammals: social functions and implications of apocrine gland odours

Synopsis The human apocrine glands and associated s tructures a re scent organs, jus t as are simila r complexes in many other orders of mammals. The units of the axillary organ s a re precisely equivalent to, for example, those of the oral glands of ground squirrels or the chin glands of rabbits. The rabbit glands are androgen-dependent; clinica! and other evidence suggests that this is equa lly true of the human axillary glands. Amongst other subtsances, the axilla produces 16-an drostenes, the same volatile steroids which emanate from boars and indu ce sexua l receptivity in sows. Produc tion of 16-androstenes by the axilla involves the activity of bacteria, particularly of diphtheroids. The recent d emonstration that axillary secretions of both men and women can affect the timing of the menstrual cycle clearly establishes the existence of true human pheromones and adds verisimilitude to the numerou s entertaining anecdotes on the role of odour in human behaviour and history.