3-008-865 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The musk deer, 1862. 'The true musk perfume has been brought to Europe for many years, but the animal which yields it has never yet been seen alive in this hemisphere...Musk is contained in an excretory gland about the navel of the male animal. By the Chinese and other dealers this gland is termed a "pod," and as imported it is called "pod musk," but when the musk is separated from the skin or sac in which it is contained it is termed "grain musk," the commercial value of which is very nearly that of gold, weight for weight. The musk deer (Moschus moschatus) is an inhabitant of the great mountain range, the Himalayas...The general outline, head, logs, and feet, are those of the common deer: it has, however, one peculiarity: the tusks project one inch and three quarters from the upper jaw...The coat is neither hair nor bristles, but is like very fine porcupine quills...Hitherto the musk brought to our market has come from Chinese ports...Now, however, we are gradually penetrating China in the north, making Umballa, one of our sanitary hill stations of India, a starting-point. Messrs. Peake and Allen, resident merchants there, are sending home musk of far greater purity than any sent to us by the Chinese'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.