76 
VARIETIES. 
as  to  prevent  the  animal  from  turning  round  and  biting  the  person  employed 
in  collecting  the  secreted  substance.  This  operation  is  said  to  be  performed 
twice  a  week,  and  is  done  by  scraping  out  the  civet  with  a  small  spoon; 
about  a  dram  at  a  time  is  thus  obtained.  A  good  deal  of  the  civet  now 
brought  to  European  markets  is  from  Calicut,  capital  of  the  province  of 
Malabar,  and  from  Bassora  on  the  Euphrates. 
In  its  pure  state,  civet  has,  to  nearly  all  persons,  a  most  disgusting  odor ; 
hut  when  diluted  to  an  infinitesimal  pDrtion,its  perfume  is  agreeable.  It  is 
difficult  to  account  for  the  reason  why  the  same  substance,  modified  only 
by  the  quantity  of  matter  presented  to  the  nose,  should  produce  an  opposite 
effect  on  the  olfactory  nerve  ;  but  such  is  the  case  with  nearly  all  odorous 
bodies,  especially  with  essential  oils,  which,  if  smelled  at,  are  far  from  nice, 
and  in  some  cases  positively  nasty — such  as  oil  of  neroly,  oil  of  thyme,  oil 
of  patchouly;  but  if  diluted  with  a  thousand  times  its  volume  of  oil,  spirit, 
&C,  then  their  fragrance  is  delightful. 
Otto  of  rose  to  many  has  a  sickly  odor,  but  when  eliminated  in  the 
homoepathic  quantities,  as  it  rises  from  a  single  rose  bloom,  who 
will  not  admit  that  "  the  rose  is  sweet  ?  "  The  odor  of  civet  is  best  im- 
parted, not  by  actual  contact,  but  by  being  placed  in  the  neighborhood  of 
absorbent  material;  thus,  when  spread  upon  leather,  which,  being  covered 
with  silk  and  placed  in  a  writing-desk,  perfumes  the  paper  and  envelopes 
delightfully,  and  so  much  so,  that  they  retain  the  odor  after  passing  through 
the  post. 
Extract  of  Civet  is  prepared  by  rubbing  in  a  mortar  one  ounce  of  civet 
with  an  orris-root  powder,  or  any  other  similar  material  that  will  assist  to 
break  up  or  divide  the  civet;  and  then  placing  the  whole  in  a  gallon  of 
rectified  spirits  ;  after  macerating  for  a  month,  it  is  fit  to  strain  off.  It  is 
principally  used  as  a  "fixing"  ingredient,  in  mixing  essences  of  delicate 
odor.  The  French  perfumers  use  the  extract  of  civet  more  than  English 
manufacturers,  who  seem  to  prefer  extract  of  musk.  From  a  quarter  of  a 
pint  to  half  a  pint  is  the  utmost  that  ought  to  be  mixed  with  a  gallon  of  any 
other  perfume. 
Castor  is  a  secretion  of  the  Castor  fiber,  or  beaver,  very  similar  to  civet. 
Though  we  have  often  heard  of  its  being  used  in  perfumery,  we  do  not 
personally  know  that  such  is  the  case. 
Musk. — This  extraordinary  substance,  like  civet,  is  an  animal  secretion; 
it  is  contained  in  excretory  follicles  about  the  navel  of  the  male  animal.  In 
the  perfumery  trade  these  little  bags  are  called  "  pods,"  and  as  imported  it 
is  called  "  pod  musk."  When  the  musk  is  separated  from  the  skin  or  sack 
in  which  it  is  contained,  it  is  then  called  "  grain  musk." 
The  musk  deer  (Moschus  moscliiferus)  is  an  inhabitant  of  the  great 
mountain  range  which  belts  the  north  of  Tndia,  and  branches  out  into 
Siberia,  Thibet  and  China.  It  is  also  found  in  the  Altaic  range,  near  Lake 
Baikal,  and  in  some  other  mountain  ranges,  but  always  on  the  line  of  per- 
petual snow.    It  is  from  the  male  animal  only  that  the  musk  is  produced. 
