Musk
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Blood, Musk and Hashish", that is to say, War, Love and Dreamland! Amid these heady fumes beats yet, in the wilds of our French possessions in Algeria, the great heart of a People that our European civilization stifles, a People that is vanishing away little by little, dying out with all its wild, fierce vices and its incomparable grandeur." --Musk, Hashish and Blood (1886) by Hector France |
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Musk is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial substances with similar odors. Musk was a name originally given to a substance with a penetrating odor obtained from a gland of the male musk deer. The substance has been used as a popular perfume fixative since ancient times and is one of the most expensive animal products in the world. The name originates from the Sanskrit word for "testicle," muṣká, and has come to encompass a wide variety of aromatic substances with similar odors despite their often differing chemical structures.
Until the late 19th century, natural musk was used extensively in perfumery until economic and ethical motives led to the adoption of synthetic musk, which is now used almost exclusively. The organic compound primarily responsible for the characteristic odor of musk is muscone.
Modern use of natural musk pods occurs in traditional Chinese medicine.
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