ODOROGRAPHIA. 
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CHAPTER I. 
THE ODOUR OF MUSK. 
Tue excessive love of perfumes generally, and of strong perfumes 
especially, is only manifested by Orientals, but yet in Northern 
Europe there are often found people with an inordinate partiality 
for the odour of musk—pure, or in combination. This odour is 
very widely distributed in nature, being found developed in birds, 
beasts, fishes, insects, reptiles, and plants, yet its principle has not 
been isolated and is not understood. It is even produced artificially 
by chemical combinations, but the reason of its development is not 
apparent. 
The Musk of commerce, which may be taken as the type of this 
odour, is the dried secretion of the preputial follicles of the male 
Musk Deer (Moschus moschiferus, Linn.). The Musk Deer is 
essentially a forest animal, inhabiting cold, mountainous districts 
on the Atlas and Himalayan ranges, at elevations above 8000 feet 
where coniferous plants abound. Although an inhabitant of the 
forest it is partial to woody ravines, and is frequently found on 
the spurs or projecting points jutting from the eternal snow-ranges 
at an altitude of from 10,000 to 14,000 feet. Itis found in Thibet, 
in Yun-nan, Sze-tchuen, and occasionally in Petsche-li (sometimes 
spelt Chih-li). 
The bag or pod containing the musk is situate near the navel, 
and is composed of several layers of thin skin. The pod varies in 
B 
