Deer musk
scent gland contents from Moschus spp.
Deer musk is a substance with a persistent odor, obtained from the abdominal scent glands of the male musk deer.
Although more commonly referred to as "musk", the term itself is often used to describe a wide variety of "musky" substances from other animals such as the African civet ("civet musk") or various synthetic musks whose compound exhibits some character of deer musk.
The demand for deer musk has led to a severe decrease in musk deer populations; however, musk can be removed from the gland of live male deer without killing the animal and without harming their growth, breeding and health. The extraction of musk from live deer has been successfully conducted many times and the characteristics of musk have been studied at the Kathmandu Zoo in Nepal. Six of the seven musk producing species are listed as endangered.
It is also known as kastūrī in rural Indian regions where they are used to make perfumes and face masks.
Cultural history
The etymology of the name musk, originating from Indian Sanskrit मुष्क muṣka (lit. 'small testicle'), spreading it to Middle Persian مشک mušk, Late Greek μόσχος (moskhos), Late Latin muscus, Middle French musc and Middle English muske, hints at its trade route.
Musk deer are among the most endangered species in the region. Scent glands from these deer can fetch thousands of rupees and are used for manufacturing perfume and traditional medicine.
Deer musk was unknown in the Western world in classical antiquity and reference to it does not appear until the 5th century AD when it is mentioned in the Talmud (Brachot 43.) as an animal-based fragrance.
“Deer musk” enters the record as scent gland contents from Moschus spp. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Deer, musk and scent can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Deer musk” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.