As possible substitutes for the musk deer may further be mentioned a species of rat indigenous to the West Indies, and an antelope of North Africa. It is also said that musk derived from the Mississippi alligator has been brought into commerce. The sacs are said to be small, the odor somewhat different from that of genuine musk, resembling that of civet, but suitable for perfuming purposes.
A process for the preparation of artificial musk has been patented by Dr. Baur, of Gispersleben. According to the specification, toluol is mixed with the halogen compounds of butane and boiled with the addition of aluminium chloride or aluminium bromide. The product of the reaction is mixed with water and distilled with steam. The fraction passing over between 338° and 392° F. is caught and treated with fuming nitric acid and fuming sulphuric acid. The product obtained is washed with water and alcohol, and crystallized. The artificial musk forms an amorphous white powder, which in time becomes yellow. It is readily soluble in 90 per cent. alcohol, but from solutions in weaker alcohol it again crystallizes out at a cool temperature. The odor becomes very pronounced after the addition of 5 drops of ammonia to 1 pound of a one per cent. solution.
This artificial product having been in existence but for a short time, it is not possible to come to a final conclusion as to its availability. However, its odor differs essentially from that of the genuine article, and it can scarcely be employed for fine extracts; if low enough in price it might, however, be suitable for soaps and cheaper perfumes.
Musk is very much adulterated, the Chinese being adepts in this sophistication. Dried blood, on account of its resemblance to musk, is among the most common adulterations, but, besides this, sand, iron filings, hair, the dung of birds, wax, asphaltum, and many other substances are introduced. They are mixed with a small portion of musk, the powerful odor of which is communicated to the entire mass, and renders the discovery of the fraud sometimes difficult. The bags containing the musk should have the characteristics before described as belonging to the natural sac, and present no sign of having been opened. One of the grossest frauds, which is also perpetrated in Europe, consists, according to Hager, in perforating the musk sac with a needle, placing it in strong rum or weak spirit of wine, and, after pressing it with the fingers, washing with spirit of wine and drying in the air. By this means a tincture suitable for perfuming purposes is obtained, while the musk-substance is increased in weight by the absorption of moisture. Sacs thus treated are, however, readily recognized, they being, after drying, gnarled and uneven.
Good musk-sacs should yield from 50 to 60 per cent. of musk. An admixture of blood is detected by the musk acquiring a putrid odor when moistened with water. The presence of pieces of metal, pebbles, resin, etc., is recognized by the naked eye or with the assistance of a magnifying glass. The microscope reveals, in pure musk, white and brownish, irregularly-formed grains, cells, oil drops, and, generally, also fungoid threads. Genuine musk burns with a white flame and leaves a gray ash, which should not amount to more than from 5 to 8 per cent.
In perfumery musk is used for soap, sachet powders, and extracts. By itself it is, however, scarcely employed, not even for the so-called musk soaps or musk extracts. It is chiefly valued by the perfumer for its property of rendering other perfumes used in combination with it more durable and bringing out their scent. For scenting soaps the musk must first be prepared. If to be used for milled soaps, it is triturated in a mortar with clear sugar, while for cold stirred soaps, weak potash lye of at the utmost 3° to 5° Bé. is poured over it. Weak lye makes the odor more pronounced, while strong lye destroys it.
Civet (zibethum) is derived from two animals of the genus Viverra. The actual civet cat (Viverra civetta, L.) lives in the hottest parts of Africa from the Guinea Coast and the Senegal to Abyssinia, where it is carefully bred for its civet. The product is also obtained from Viverra zibetha, L., indigenous to the Moluccas and Philippines. The civet is secreted in a cavity between the anus and the external genitals, and is scraped out with a spoon. It is semi-liquid, unctuous, yellowish, becoming brown and thicker by exposure to the air, of a bitter, disagreeable, fatty taste, and of a peculiar, urinose, disagreeable odor, resembling that of musk which becomes agreeable only when much diluted and mixed with other perfumes. When ignited it burns with a bright flame, leaving behind 3 to 4 per cent. of ash. It is insoluble in water; in spirit of wine it partially dissolves with difficulty, and with greater ease in warm ether and in chloroform. It should form a homogeneous, non-crumbling mass. According to M. Boutron Chalard, it contains free ammonia, stearin, olein, mucus, resin, a yellow coloring substance, salts, and a volatile oil, the latter giving the odor to it. In perfumery, civet is chiefly used as an addition to other perfumes in order to strengthen them and make them more constant. It is also employed for perfuming fine leather articles.
Castor or castoreum is a peculiar concrete substance obtained from Castor fiber or the beaver. In both sexes between the anus and external genitals are two pear-shaped sac-like follicles (Fig. 24) united at their thin ends. The follicles contain, when fresh, a semi-liquid substance which becomes more solid by drying. The castor occurring in commerce is generally dried by smoke.
Fig. 24.