118 THE THIBETIAN MUSK. 



to market, principally by blood being addad. Whei 

 first taken from the animal, the scent *s extremely 

 powerful, so much so as sometimes to be with diffi- 

 culty supported by the person. This flavor* be- 

 comes mellowed through time, and by many is much 

 esteemed as a perfume, which, indeed, is the princi- 

 pal cause of its being collected : it was also occa- 

 sionally used as a medicine. As a perfume, it is 

 one of the most subtle, and a very small quantity 

 will suffice, and, when once introduced, is extremely 

 difficult to be destroyed. In addition to tne em- 

 ployment of a part of this animal as a luxury and 

 medicine, the flesh is sometimes eaten, but is very 

 strongly flavoured. A wawn dress of the skins, with 

 the fur preserved, is made for a winter clothing, and 

 a soft and shining leather is prepared by another 

 process. 



The other animals which have been placed with 

 the true Musk, as congeneric, differ in several par- 

 ticulars. The muzzle is very much elongated, and 

 the accessory hoofs assume the form of adpressed 

 conical claws. They are the most diminutive in size 

 of all the ruminating animals, not exceeding the size 

 of a hare. They inhabit the Indian islands, generally 

 the thick woody copses, intermixed with rocks. It 

 is possible these may, when better known, be placed 

 in a subgenus of Moschus. We illustrate this form 

 by 



