Volume 2
Cyclopædia of India and of eastern and southern Asia, commercial, industrial and scientific : products of the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms, useful arts and manufactures / edited by Edward Balfour.
- Date:
- 1857
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Cyclopædia of India and of eastern and southern Asia, commercial, industrial and scientific : products of the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms, useful arts and manufactures / edited by Edward Balfour. Source: Wellcome Collection.
68/872 page 1264
![MUSK RATS TA1T.3. margins often have large portions of the skin of the abdomen attached to them. The colour of the hairs is a dirty milk-white. The musk exhi- bits a more homogeneous and less granular ap- pearance, having a much fainter odour and taste than the preceding kind. The odour is augment- ed by moisture, but is somewhat nauseous and disagreeable. The wood cuts show the difieieuce of aspect of the two kinds. Musk is more solu- ble in water than in alcohol. Of 100 parts ol genuine Tonquiu Musk, boiling-water dissolves liO parts, alcohol only 50. Ol Kabardin Musk water dissolves only 50 per cent. It is likewise soluble in ether, acetic acid, and yolk ol egg. A very small kind of pod is sometimes met 3. MUSK.ITO. becomes attached and is cleanly and playful.— Nobis, Eng. Cgc. (55 lr) MUSK-ROOT, the root of a plant brought to England from Russia and Persia, and known also by the name of Sumbul. This root exhales a powerful smell of musk, and has been used in medicine as a substitute for that substance. The plant yielding it is not known, but the root has the appearance of belonging to the natural order UmbeLliferce. Its tissues are full of starch.—Eng. Cgc. (5511) MU SKA KA JIIAR. Hind (5bl2) MUSKITO, Mosquito Tex.. with, which is not flattened-, but perfectly round: the hairs of a yellowish brown colour. This is probably the musk-bag of the Moschus Altaicns. ]t is safest to purchase the musk out of the pod. as there is then less opportunity of adulteration. Infusion of genuine musk is not precipitated by a solution of bichloride of mercury (corrosive subli- mate) ; but genuine musk is precipitated by nitric and other strong acids, by acetate of lead (sugar-of-lead), and infusion of galls. '1 he musk-bags are used by perfumers to prepare Essence of Musk. An artificial musk is some- times made with nitric acid and oil of amber.— Eng. Cgc. (5508) MUSK OKRO, Musk Hibiscus Musk Plant Abelmo.schus Moschatus. Ilnhb-Iil musk, A kab. 1 Kala-Kiistoorie, Gi:z, Hind. Kami Kinaissa, Cvng. ! Cattu Gastun, Mat.. The seeds of the (Hibiscus N be! moschus), a native of the East Indies and South America. They are brown, kidney-shaped, the size of hemp seed, slightly compressed, striated with parallel streaks, and covered with points slightly hollow- ed In smell and taste, these seeds resemble a mixture of musk and amber. They are much esteemed in India for their cordial, stomachic, and antispasmodie virtues. In a powdered state, tliev are used as an adjunct to coffee by the -Arabs. Faulkner. One of the most gaudy flowering shrubs in the Tenasserim country is the musk plant, whose large yellow blossoms with blow colored eyes are sometimes seen bedeckin0 L i ropean grounds, and whose sceils^ave been said to be an antidote to snake bites. . • (5509) MUSK RATS RAILS, are the tads of the Ondatra, (Lacepede) the Musquash o North America, of which there are three vai leties, he black, the pied and the white. 1 lie animals are hunted forfeit. furs and np*ris of one million of skins are imported into Impanel nually for hat making: their tads are cover- ed with a thin sleek coat of short hairs, a\ a fdeaeingodour of ,mr* in Russia and the Maidive Islands. “ dftnee in the northern parts of Russia; P es use with the belief that the animal also ni white Siberia, The Musquash is easily tamed, soon Muchr, Hind. Tam, In a former work on China, ‘ A journey to the Tea Countries, Mr. Fortune noticed a curious subtauce called “ mosquito tobacco,” or mos- quito physic,” for it is known by both of these names, which he had met with for the first time when travelling in the western parts of the pro- vince of Chekiang on his way to the Bohea 11101111- tains and the great black-tea country of Woo-e- shan. He says, The day before the discovery was made had been very hot, and during the night such swarms of mosquitoes came that neither my servant nor myself had been allowed to close our eyes. I had 110 curtains with me, and looked forward with dread to many such sleepless nights during the journey. “ M by dou t you procuie some lriuii-jiirig-eaii ?” said the boatmen to my servant Delighted to find there was some sim- ple remedy, I sent on shore to the first \illage we passed, anti procured some sticks ot this in- valuable substance. I found it answer the pui- pose admirably, and used it every night during the remainder of that journey whenever 1 hap- pened to sleep, whether in boats, in temples, or in the common inns of the country.- 4 es. among the Chi. p. 108. Years after, during tins Traveller’s residence in China, 011 inquiring as o its composition from a person, at first lie was very .communicative. He informed him the following articles were used : namely, the sawings of juni- per or pine trees (pill heang fun, or sung shoo), artemisia-leaves reduced to powder (uai-hai) to- bacco-leaves (ean fun), a small portion of arsenic (pe-za), and a mineral called nu-waug. VY ltd regard to the proportions of each, it appeared that, to thirty pounds of the pine or jumper sawings, about twenty of artemisia, five ot to- bacco, and a small quantity of arsenic were add- ed. But ere we had come to this point my in- formant's jealousy had been aroused, and his state- ments were evidently not much to be depended upon, lie now began to question mem return for the answers lie had giycn- . , want this information for ? if 1 wanted to bu the article he had it for sale, and 1 « 11 enough.”—A Res. among the Cln. p. Ill- *10m subsequent inquiries, lie ascertaine t lion to be Bine and juniper sawings woimwood leaves, and tobacco-leaves, reduced to poudei,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28708921_0002_0068.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
