experiments will probably bring to light a great many other combinations.

According to the analyses of MM. Guibourt and Blondeau, musk contains: water, ammonia, stearin, elain, cholesterin, an acid combined with ammonia, peculiar volatile oil, hydrochlorate of lime, carbonate of lime, gelatine, fibrin, phosphate of lime, hairs, sand, salt of lime, organic acid, etc.

Chemistry has already succeeded in preparing a kind of artificial musk. In Germany they have manufactured it for some time, by treating one part of essential oil of amber by four parts of nitric acid. A kind of yellow rosin, having the odor of musk, is obtained. The odor of musk is met with also in man and several animals. Alexander the Great, and the learned Haller, transpired the odor of musk. The buffalo, several kinds of rats, deer, antelope, and many other animals, emit the smell of musk during the season of rutting. Amongst birds, ducks, owls, and pelicans. Amongst the reptiles, some snakes, crocodiles, and some species of turtles; and many insects exhibit the same phenomenon. A multitude of plants possess the odor of musk in different degrees. Lastly, the excrements of some animals, such as the skunk, coon, etc., have a musky odor.

Musk is rarely ever used alone. Its penetrating and tenacious odor may affect the nerves, causing some persons to faint, and sometimes occasions convulsions; but this perfume being mixed in

very small quantities with some others, such as the ambergris, lavander, etc., loses its offensive smell and becomes agreeable to the olfactories.

The trade distinguishes three kinds of musk. The China musk or Tonquin; the Bengal musk, which comprises the Thibet; and the Tartary musk.

The China musk is divided into three classes; the first, called musk of the royal hunt, is in flat bladders, sometimes ovoids, round; sometimes long, dried, thin, soft to the touch, of a weight varying from one drachm to one ounce. The upper part of each bladder, which is pierced in the middle by a little hole, is covered with long hairs, of a reddish color, thicker on the edges than on the middle, and around the entire circumference; the lower part has no hairs; it bears on the middle a red mark. Its appearance is whitishgray. The color of the musk contained in this envelop is dark brown. It is viscous to the touch; its odor is penetrating and subtle; if weakened, it ought not to be ammoniacal nor empyreumatic. This kind is very rare in commerce. This musk is exported in lead or tin boxes weighing from sixteen to twenty-one ounces. Each bladder is enveloped in China paper (tissue-paper), which bears a seal and the name of the place it comes from. To this first envelope succeeds another formed of Chinese varnished paper, and covered with a coating of tar.

The second kind has about the same properties

as the first; its odor is less pure; it is a little ammoniacal. It is exported, 1, in entire bladders, often bearing a seal similar to the above; 2, in bladders which have been opened, and do not bear a seal. The packings used are the same. The third kind is contained in bladders of various shapes. The hair which covers them is less. abundant on the edges; they are damp, thicker than the others, and are always sewed. The product they contain is heavier, it crushes and dries more easily; its odor is fetid and ammoniacal, and the true odor of musk is developed only after some time. Its perfume is less delicate. This musk is exported in lead or tin boxes, weighing from four to six pounds. The Bengal musk is nearly similar to the Tonquin, but its odor is not so delicate, and is somewhat ammoniacal. The bladders which contain it, generally, are not so well closed, often sewed over, damp. The hair which covers the skin is not so long, and is mixed. The bladders have not at their upper part the small hole we remark on the Tonquin; the skin also is thicker. It is exported in lead or tin boxes weighing from twenty ounces to six pounds.

The musk of Tartary is in flat, dry, and long bladders. The skin is thick, the upper part is covered with short hairs of a whitish-gray color; the appearance of the lower part is a dirty gray. The musk it contains is compact, and has a fibrous

consistency. Its odor is little penetrating, ammoniacal, and easily evaporates.

A

Falsification.-A substance as costly as musk cannot be brought from its place of production without being adulterated. Thus a great many things have been tried to sophisticate the precious product; dried blood has been mixed with it, various animal substances, resins, wax, pieces of skin, hairs, iron, sand, and many other things. microscopical examination will detect the metallic and earthy parts; the incineration also leaves these substances. By passing a red hot iron through adulterated musk, the odor of resins, wax, and other animal or vegetable substances can be detected. For all the trials a specimen type should be examined at the same time. Good musk is very soluble in water, does not present hard substances when pressed between the fingers; it colors paper reddish-brown.

Civet.

The name civet is given to all unctuous products extracted from a cavity, more or less deep, placed below the anus of the civet (viverra civetta), and opening by the outside. That cavity, in the bottom of which we meet two glandular receptacles, contains a fatty matter similar to musk, of a buttery consistence; at first of a whitish color, which becomes brown by time; of a strong odor, which is sometimes fetid; of a burning and acrid

taste. This substance, also called civet, is much used in perfumery. Civets are found in Asia and Africa, principally in Abyssinia, Guinea, and Congo. The civet is extracted from the body of the living animal by carefully introducing a little spoon into the receptacle which contains it. The Amsterdam civet is preferred to that of the East or India; that from Guinea would be the best if it was not adulterated with storax, or some other odoriferous substance. The civet received from Asia is extracted from the Zibet, an animal having great analogy with the civet, but different in some peculiar characteristics. Lavender, thyme, and other scented waters acquire much superiority when prepared with a small quantity of civet.

Civet enters into the fabrication of several compound perfumes, among them the powder of Chypre; it is used also by tobacconists to perfume snuff. Civet is adulterated with honey, lard, rancid butter, and other fatty bodies-blood, sand, earth; then the product has not its genuine color, odor, or consistency, and contains often grains more or less hard-characteristics not possessed by a specimen of genuine civet.

Castoreum.

An animal substance with a very strong odor, often secreted in a pocket that the beaver (castor fiber) carries under the tail. Castoreum is now very little used in perfumery, but in medicine