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American  Musk 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
1       Nov.,  1886. 
AMERICAN  MUSK. 
By  Charles  JSymes,  Ph.D. 
Read  before  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference. 
Some  few  years  since  several  articles  appeared  in  the  Canadian  and 
United  States  pharmaceutical  journals,  by  Messrs.  Christian  and 
Gregory;  these  in  turn  were  copied  into  European  journals  devoted  to 
pharmacy,  which  created  considerable  interest  in  this  substance.  It 
was  assumed  that  it  would  soon  become  an  article  of  commerce  and 
for  many  purposes  replace  the  more  expensive  kind.  With  some 
little  difficulty  I  obtained  a  supply,  consisting  of  two  thin,  flexible, 
sheet-iron  packages,  each  containing  half  a  pound  of  the  pods  or 
follicles,  of  a  flattened,  oval  shape,  brown  color,  and  smelling  strongly 
of  musk  and  rancid  fat.   (See  also  Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,  1881,  p.  397.) 
The  animal  yielding  "  American  musk"  is  known  as  the  musk  rat 
[Fiber  Zibethicus),  related  to  the  beaver,  is  amphibious  and  abounds 
on  the  margins  of  rivers  and  lakes  in  the  United  States  and  Canada ; 
it  is  trapped  for  its  fur,  and  in  directing  attention  to  its  musk  follicles 
Mr.  Christian  was  attempting  to  utilize  a  waste  product. 
Accompanying  the  supply  which  I  obtained  were  the  following 
particulars  as  to  its  mode  of  use : 
"For  Toilet  Soaps. — Take  one  pound  of  the  pods  and  bruise  it 
with  a  portion  of  silex  or  glass,  add  four  pints  strong  alcohol  and  2 
per  cent,  solution  potash  6°  B.,  and  keep  in  a  moderately  warm  place 
for  three  or  four  weeks.  Such  substances  as  civet,  styrax,  vanilla, 
benjamin  ;  and  such  oil  as  cloves,  caraway,  serpolit  and  cassia  are  the 
usual  additions  to  this  musk  in  toilet  soap,  according  to  the  kind 
wanted. 
"For  Sachet  Powder. — Take  one  pound  of  the  pods,  place  them  in 
some  convenient  vessel  with  four  pounds  of  powdered  orris  root 
(stirring  occasionally)  for  two  or  three  weeks,  when  the  pods  can  be 
sieved  out  and  used  for  tincture  as  above.  The  musk  orris  root  can 
enter  into  musk,  violet,  and  heliotrope  sachets. 
"For  Perfuming  and  Flavoring. — Take  one  pound  of  the  pod  and 
mix  with  four  pints  strong  alcohol,  adding  2  ounces  slaked  lime  to 
this  quantity,  and  infuse  about  a  month.  For  flavoring,  the  oils  of 
rose,  thyme,  cloves,  cinnamon  and  extract  of  vanilla  are  the  usual  ac- 
companiments." 
The  sacs  were  found  to  be  saturated  with  oil,  and  it  became  of  in- 
