Amk{rch  ^9i8m'  3"       The  Chinese  Musk  Industry.  I97 
high  as  the  limits  of  the  thickets  of  birch,  rhododendron,  and  juniper, 
among  which  it  conceals  itself  in  the  daytime.  It  is  a  hardy,  soli- 
tary and  retiring  animal,  chiefly  nocturnal  in  its  habits,  and  almost 
always  found  alone,  rarely  in  pairs,  and  never  in  herds.  It  is  ex- 
ceedingly active  and  sure-footed,  having,  perhaps,  no  equal  in  travers- 
ing rocks  and  precipitous  ground;  and  it  feeds  on  moss,  grass,  and 
leaves  of  the  plants  which  grow  on  the  mountains  among  which 
it  makes  its  home. 
Most  of  the  animals  of  the  group  to  which  the  musk  deer  belongs 
have  some  portion  of  the  cutaneous  surface  peculiarly  modified  and 
provided  with  glands  secreting  some  odorous  and  oleaginous  sub- 
stance specially  characteristic  of  the  species.  The  situation  of  the 
specially  modified  portion  of  skin  is  extremely  various,  sometimes 
between  the  toes,  as  in  sheep,  sometimes  on  the  face  in  front  of  the 
eyes,  as  in  many  deer  and  antelopes.  Sometimes  it  forms  a  dis- 
tinct pouch  or  sac.  This  is  the  form  taken  by  the  special  gland  of 
the  musk  deer.  It  is  found  in  the  male  only,  and  is  a  sac  about  the 
size  of  a  small  orange,  situated  beneath  the  skin  of  the  abdomen. 
The  secretion  with  which  the  sac  is  filled  is  of  dark-brown  or  choco- 
late color,  and  when  fresh  is  described  as  being  of  the  consistency 
of  "moist  gingerbread,"  but  becomes  dry  and  granular  after  keep- 
ing. When  the  animal  is  killed,  the  whole  gland,  or  "pod,"  is  cut 
out  and  dried,  and  in  this  form  reaches  the  market  of  the  Western 
world,  chiefly  through  China. 
Owing  to  the  great  value  of  musk  to  the  perfumer,  the  chemist 
early  tried  to  solve  the  problem  of  making  it  artificially,  and  finally 
one  Baur  accidentally  succeeded  in  imitating  the  odor  in  a  com- 
pound made  by  linking  the  radicle  of  benzene  and  that  of  tertiary 
butyl  alcohol.  It  is  not  a  true  musk,  as  the  natural  product  belongs 
to  quite  a  different  class  of  chemical  compounds.  However,  "  Muse 
Baur,"  as  it  was  called  in  the  trade,  enjoyed  great  popularity  and 
sold  for  $20  gold  a  pound  as  far  back  as  1900,  the  product  so  sold 
being  adulterated  with  19  times  its  weight  of  acetanilid. 
There  are  other  artificial  musks  in  the  market  now  and  the  adul- 
teration with  inert  chemicals  has  ceased.  None  of  these,  however, 
has  the  power  that  makes  the  product  of  Tibet  so  valuable,  that  of 
fixing  the  more  fugitive  floral  odor  and  giving  the  resulting  perfume 
lasting  qualities  that  are  lacking  in  cheaper  grades,  whose  odor  is 
sweet  when  moist  but  vanishes  as  the  solution  dries. 
