302 
OBSERVATIONS ON MUSK. 
ART. LXXVI. —OBSERVATIONS ON MUSK. 
This substance is found secreted in a bag attached to the 
male musk deer, whose habitat is in the mountainous 
Kirgesian and Sangorian steppes of the Altai, on the river 
Irtysch. It exists also in Mongolia, Thibet, and Butan or 
Bontan, as far as Tonquin, and generally on the mountains 
of Eastern Asia, ranging between 30° and 60° of latitude. 
In trade two distinct species of musk are known, compris- 
ing the Chinese Tonquin, Thibetian or Oriental musk, and 
that which includes the Siberian, Cabardinian, or Russian 
musk. These varieties, the one Russsian and the other 
Chinese, differ materially both in the external appearance of 
the bag and the color of the hair which covers it, as well as 
in their chemical and physical properties, and different 
effects on the human constitution. 
These differences exist chiefly on account of the differ- 
ence in climate which the animals inhabit, and the food 
which such variations in temperature occasion. Dr. Gobel 
is of opinion that these different properties of Chinese musk, 
as compared with the Russian, should be attributed to the 
difference of treatment which they undergo in China, and 
he considers that the Chinese musk is the natural product 
after it has been subjected to the ingenious adulterations of 
the Chinese. The following are the reasons for this sup- 
position: — 
Irbit, a small town of Asiatic Russia, known chiefly for 
the considerable barter-trade which is there carried on in 
the month of February, between Russian, Bucharian, and 
Chiwinzian tribes, with Persian, Armenian, and other 
Asiatic nations, is the main market for Siberian musk. It 
is less frequently taken to the market of Nischnei Novgo- 
