MUSK.

1397

to ^

lias tl! e ° SSessin S a m usky odour. Wlien mixed with other scents, muskWiq^arkable property of augmenting and improving their smell,per(' llrne llluc h imparting its own: hence it is extensively used byby settino' C ^ ( ewr f ^ ro P s °f potash added to musk increases its odour,2, o ^ rcc > it is supposed, ammonia.r(>!S|< icvJ <1:IlIAN, Russian, or Kabardine Musk (Moschus sibiricus,to l, e ’ Seu cabardinus). This is an inferior kind. The pods are said^ul °blong or oval than those of the China kind ; the hairs longer

P°d s 0 y Ibit I have examined large quantities of Siberian musk, thejbiy () f bich were not distinguishable from those of the China kind byis ^ ese characters. The only invariable distinction I have observed'itid e Sce nt, which is remarkably different: it is much less powerful,Oejg er e nauseous and disagreeable, being somewhat empyreumatic.°f the s Sa ^ S> i s sometimes accompanied by an odour similar to thata nd all'*l? at a i 10rse - This kind of musk is imported in wooden boxes,v ati 0l5 • j e P 0( i s that I have examined were in a good state of preser-’ ut frequently, I am told, this is not the case.

j

* **» Musk (Moschus bucharicus) is described by some pharmacologists, but I

1Us k l, as a ni ^t vvitb it. The hairs are said to be yellowish or reddish-brown. The,v eak odour, and is of very inferior quality.

r, aVe seen ATIOn -—The great sophisticators of musk are the Chinese . I. ?ton. ar ^fi c ial pods of musk which had been imported from

? r tifi c i a i f it Martins (Lehrb. d. pharm. Zool. S. 39, 1838) calls thisextend ^ampo Musk, and says that, for some years past, it hasp ( , ri81v cly introduced into commerce. The hairy portion of thejoshed h*, 11 - a piece of the skin of a musk animal, (readily distin-’] n<;il| l | i'ane 1 ^ 8lenlar kable hairs), coarsely sown at the edges to a piece ofyi'® pO(] ,VV hich represents the smooth or hairless portion of the sacs.»l arii cters- S aiG distinguished from the genuine ones by the following1(3 ^air n t ^ U! a b seil cc of any aperture in the middle of the hairy coat;

n g arranged in a circular manner; and the absence of all<(\"dl as ti 16 b cn ’ s (found in every genuine musk sac). These false sacs,Co// 6 h r °nuine ones, are sometimes enveloped in papers marked,* ^ l(: ^Usk^f 6 ^ m ^ an ^ m Jung-then-chung-chung-kee.” The odourj, P ra in ?° le la ^ se sacs ammoniacal.

5 J ' sta nces rt sometimes imitated by dried blood, and perhaps by other/Pearaucg , e fr aud is to be detected by a careful examination of thecl'l '^sion a f °^ our the particles, and by their chemical characters.

1 1 0l ’id e 0 f ° genuine musk gives no precipitate with a solution of bi-^: l, b . lllei 'cury, but does with tincture of nutgalls, and acetate of

b let *as iji lnc ' lner;u ion genuine musk leaves behind a greyish white ash,hy m ??. J'ipids a reddish one. Artificial musk is said to be pre-f, foixi n ,, ’ n a mortar dried bullock’s blood with caustic ammonia,^ Je half-dried mass with genuine musk

bi]., " ' 1 ' r bRcp_ “*<*=--* "hu — -

tj‘ 0r t$ °f nn i- • At an avera g e °f the three years ending with 1832, the

])• , ex cepti 0l Sk f fri , >m P^ces eastward of the Cape of Good Hope , with

Com ° ^lona, amounted to 4,965 ounces a-year,” (M‘Cullocli’s

^ c e.s. fierce). In 1839, duty (6d. per ounce) was paid on 2,389

l0N- In 1803, Thiemann (Burl. Jahrb. 1803. S. 100) ana-n 1805, Bueholz (Pfaff, Mat. Med. I3d. iv. 401) examined