THE ODOUR OF MUSK. 19 
Continuing the list of musk odours in the vegetable kingdom, 
may be cited “ Mal-oil” or oil of apples. This is produced by 
cellulostasis, a disease of the apple which imparts a musky odour 
to this fruit. It is obtained from the diseased apples by distilla- 
tion with water. It is a yellowish-grey oil, lighter than water ; it 
boils at 109°C. It smells strongly of musk and hasa rough sharp 
taste. It volatilizes completely when heated. It dissolves readily 
in alcohol and ether, and imparts a musk-like odour to water *. 
The “‘ white Musk Mallow” (Malva moschata alba), a British 
hardy perennial, is found growing abundantly in some localities by 
the roadsides in dry gravelly soil. This white variety is an attrac- 
tive plant, and forms a branching pyramidal bush about 2 feet 
high, clothed with dark green, deeply-divided foliage. The flowers 
are pure white, from 1 to 14 inches in diameter; the whole plant 
is slightly musk-scented. 
The Mimulus moschatus, also called Erodium moschatum, a native 
of North America, usually known in England as the “ Musk 
plant,” and cultivated in pots for window decoration, is too well 
known to require description. The old-fashioned variety is more 
strongly scented than the large-flowered sort. 
The Hibiscus Abelmoschus, an herbaceous plant attaining about 
3 feet in height, a native of the hottest parts of India, of which 
two varieties are cultivated in tropical countries, is a somewhat 
important plant commercially. Its large yellow flowers are 
succeeded by greyish-coloured seeds which possess a very pro- 
nounced odour of musk; these seeds, known as ‘ Ambrette ” 
seeds, are distilled for their fragrant oil, the yield of which is 
estimated at 0°2 per cent. 
The Eurybia argophylla or Guarea Swartzei, the “ Silver-leaved 
Musk-tree” of Jamaica, New South Wales, and Tasmania, is a 
meliaceous tree attaining a height of 25 feet. In Jamaica it is 
called the ‘‘ Musk-wood.” It is often cultivated in greenhouses 
as a shrub, and valued for the musky odour of itsleaves. A sample 
of “ Musk-wood ” was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition, 1878, 
from Queensland, said to be derived from Marlea Vitiensis, 
Benth. 
The Carduus nutans (Musk Thistle) is not uncommon on waste 
land, fallow fields, and barren pastures where the soil is gravelly, 
* Pharm. Journ, [8] xxvii. p. 158. 
c2 
