MD8K. 



MUSOPHAUII'.i:. 



HI 



471 grains; the average is 6 drachms 12 grains. The average quantity 

 of muak contained iu the sacks is about 24 drachm*. 



By careful removal of the bag there remains the muak, which is 

 olid, in grain* of different sir, adhering to each other, soft, and 

 unctuous to the feel, of a reddish-brown colour, like a clot of blood 

 dried, baring frequently a number of hairs intermixed, derived from 

 the inner aide of the orifice already described. The taste is bitterish, 

 acrid, disagreeable, and somewhat astringent. The odour is strong, 

 peculiar (musky), penetrating, very lasting, and extraordinarily dif- 

 fusible. It is stated that a single grain can constantly fill the air of 

 a large apartment with a sensible impregnation for many yean, without 

 iU weight being perceptibly diminished ; and one part can communicate 

 its odour to 3000 parta of an inodorous powder. 



It should be kept in glass-bottles, very closely stopped, and preserved 

 in a place neither very dry nor too damp. 



By the analysis of Geizar and Keiman it appears to consist of 



1, a peculiar volatile principle (which can exist in n free state); 



2, ammonia; 3, a peculiar fixed uncrystallisable acid (these three are 

 in undeterminable quantity); 4, stearine and oleine; 5, choleeterine; 

 6, a peculiar bitter resin ; 7, osmazome, with several salts ; 8, a mouldy- 

 like substance, in part combined with ammonia, and numerous salts; 

 V, sand ; 10, water, acid, Ac., with some volatile odorous matter. 



It has not been ascertained upon what musk depends for its peculiar 

 properties. It has been conjectured that a kind of putrefaction goes 

 on which evolve* the peculiar odour. Moisture seems to favour this, 

 and musk which when dry yields little scent, becomes powerful when 

 moistened. The odour is augmented by adding a few drops of the 

 solution of snbcarbonate of potass. 



2. Kabardin, Russian or Siberian Husk, is either received through 

 St. Petersburg, or, it is said, sent to China, and laid for some time 

 among the bags of genuine Tonquin Musk, to acquire the odour of 

 the latter, and then shipped to Europe. The pods of this sort are in 

 general larger, more oval, more compressed, and the margins often 

 nave large portions of the skin of the abdomen attached to them. 

 The colour of the hairs is a dirty milk-white. The musk exhibits a 

 more homogeneous and less granular appearance, having a much fainter 

 odour and taste than the preceding kind. The odour is augmented by 

 moisture, but is somewhat nauseous and disagreeable. The wood -cute 

 how the difference of aspect of the two kinds. 



1, Tonquln Musk. 2, K.bardin Musk. 



Mui* U more soluble in water than in alcohol Of 100 parts of 

 genuine Tonquin Musk, boiling-water dissolves 90 parts, alcohol only 

 60. Of Kabardin Musk water dissolves only 60 per cent It in like- 

 wise soluble in ether, acetic acirl, and yolk of egg. 



. A very small kind of pod ii sometimes met with, which ls not 

 attenrd, but perfectly ruiiml : the hair* of a yfllowish-brown colour. 

 TbU U probably the musk-bug of the MOK)UH Altaic** 



It is safest to purchase the muak out of tho pod, as there is then 

 less opportunity of adulteration. Infusion of genuine musk is not 

 precipitated by a solution of bichloride of mercury (corrosive sub- 

 limate) ; but genuine musk U precipitated by nitric and other strong 

 acids, by acetate of lead (sugar-of-lead), and infusion of galls. The 

 musk-bags are used by perfumers to prepare Essence of Musk. An 

 artificial musk is sometimes made with nitric acid and oil of amber. 



MUSK-BKETLK. [CERAMBYCID*.] 



MUSK-DEER. [Mosuiin.K.] 



MUSK-DUCK. [DOCKS.] 



MUSK-ORCHIS. [HKRWBIUM.] 



MUSK-OX. [BoviD*] 



MUSK-RAT. [OHDATBJL] 



MUSK-ROOT, the root of a plant brought to thus country from 

 Russia and Persia, and known also by the name of SumbuL Thin 

 root exhales a powerful smell of muak, and has been used in medicine 

 aa a substitute for that substance. Tho plant yielding it is not 

 known, but the root has the appearance of belonging to the natural 

 order I'mbcllifenr. Its tissues are full of starch. 



MCSOCA'RPUM, a genus of Fossil Plants, the fruits of which only are 

 known. It occurs in the Coal-Measures of Lancashire. (Brongniart). 



MUSOPHA'GID J3 (Swainson), a family of Birds, the type of which 

 is the genus Mtuophaga, the species of which are called Plantain- 

 Eaters. Mr. Vigors notices the genera Mtuophaga and Corylhaix as 

 nearly and evidently allied to the Gallinaceous Families, and as being 

 found among the Scansorial Birds ; and speaks of the nevus Vinago 

 [COLUMBUS] as united by their comparatively stronger and more 

 solid bills to Penelope and Gnu, which in hia arrangement form the 

 opposite extreme of the order Rtuoret, as well as to Mtuophaga and 

 Corytkaix, which approach the whole of the Rasorial groups and 

 connect them with the Perchers. [IssKSSOBES.] 



The Afiuo],hagidif constitute, according to Mr. Swainson, the fifth 

 great division of the conirostral tribe of Perchers. Not that he con- 

 siders it as by auy means clear that Mutophaya is the real type of 

 the whole family, though he designates that genus as the most 

 conspicuous of the group. 



He thus characterises the family : 



Bill short ; upper mandible high ; the culmen arched ; the margin* 

 either serrated or entire ; the under mandible very thin. Feet short 

 formed for clinging. The toes various. 



The place which this family occupies in Mr. Swainson's arrange- 

 ment is next to the FringUlida, at the end of the Perching Birds, 

 and immediately before the Scansores, intermediate between the 

 Finches and Hornbills. He observes that those which betray their 

 affinity to the bullfinches are small, whilst others, whose sire and 

 peculiar structure assimilate them more to the hornbills, are of a 

 size proportionate to those birds, remarking that, with the exception 

 of one genus, they all possess a short but very strong and thick bill, 

 more or less curved on the top, the cutting margins being minutely 

 serrated, like the teeth of a saw. The food, it is stated, seems to be 

 entirely vegetable, and of the most tender and delicate description : 

 and Mr. Swainson remarks that it is singular to observe that the bill 

 in this family (in outward appearance much stronger than that of the 

 Finches) should yet be employed in procuring the softest vegetable 

 food ; while the short bill, posterior nostrils, hopping gait, and 

 purely vegetable food are all exemplified in such birds as Bccru* 

 'jaJ.ca.tiLs, and proclaim the affinity of the Plantain-Eaters to the 

 Horubills. 



Mr. Swainson further remarks that the economy of these birds, so 

 far as they have been observed by travellers, is directly against the 

 theory of their being likened to the Gallinaceous Order ; and he quotes 

 some of the statements of Cuvier and those of Yarrell in support of 

 bis opinion. The former, in the ' Regne Animal,' states that Corythaix 

 and ifuiophaga appear to him to have some analogy with the Gallina- 

 ceous Birds, and particularly with the Hoccos. They have the wings 

 and the tail of those birds, and, like them, keep on trees ; their bill, 

 he continues, is short, and the upper mandible convex; their feet 

 have a short membrane between the anterior toes ; but it is true that 

 the external toe is often directed backwards like that of the owls. 

 Their nostrils also are simply placed in the bom of the bill, the edges 

 of the mandible* are dentilated, and the sternum (at least that of tho 

 Touraco) has not the great notches which are ordinary in the 

 Gallinaceous Birds. Mr. Swainson observes that this admission of 

 Cuvier, that Corythaijr and MufojJiaga only present " quelqu.e analogic 

 avec les gallinaccs," and that they have not the notched sternum of 

 the latter, is directly opposed to the theory of them birds leading to 

 the (Jaltinatca, a view of the subject which is confirmed by Mr. Yarrell's 

 observations. Mr. Swainson separates the family into the following 

 nub-families and genera : 



Phytotomina, Plant-Cutters. Bill serrated, but not swollen. Feet 

 with two or three toes forward, and one backward. (Sw.) 



Phytotoma (Molina). Bill short, comprexsed, the base widened; 

 high at the base, and gradually curved ; the lower mandible much 

 weaker, straight ; the commissure slightly arched, with the margins 

 crested. Tongue short, pointed. Nostrils banal, small, rounded. 

 Wings moderate ; the first two quills graduated; tail moderate, even. 

 Feet strong. Lateral toes unequal, the inner shortest. Claws slender 

 slightly curved. (Sw.) 



