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Musk was unknown in classical antiquity and reference to it does not appear until the 5th century when it is mentioned in the Talmud (Brachot 43.) as an animal-based fragrance. The 6th-century Greek explorer Cosmas Indicopleustes mentioned it as a product obtained from India. Soon afterwards Arab and Byzantine perfume makers began to use it, and it acquired a reputation as an aphrodisiac.Under the Abbasid Empire of Arabs it was highly regarded, and the caliphs of Baghdad used it lavishly. In the early 9th century, Al-Kindi included it in a large number of his perfume recipes and it became one of the important luxury items brought by Arabian ships from the East.The etymology of the name musk, originating from Sanskrit via Middle Persian mušk, Late Greek (moschos), Late Latin muscus, Middle French musc and Middle English muske, hints at its trade route.
The musk deer belongs to the family Moschidae and lives in Pakistan, India, Tibet, China, Siberia and Mongolia. To obtain the musk, the deer is killed and its gland, also called "musk pod", is removed. It is dried either in the sun, on a hot stone, or by immersion in hot oil. Upon drying, the reddish-brown paste turns into a black granular material called "musk grain", which is used for alcoholic solutions. The Aroma chemicals of the tincture becomes more intense during storage and gives a pleasant odor only after it is considerably diluted. No other natural substance has such a complex Aroma chemicals associated with so many contradictory descriptions; however, it is usually described abstractly as animalic, earthy and woody or something akin to the odor of baby's skin.
Good musk is of a dark purplish color, dry, smooth and unctuous to the touch, and bitter in taste. The grain of musk will distinctly scent millions of cubic feet of air without any appreciable loss of weight, and its scent is not only more penetrating but more persistent than that of any other known substance. In addition to its odoriferous principle, it contains ammonia, cholesterol, fatty matter, a bitter resinous substance, and other animal principles.
The best quality is Tonkin musk from Tibet and China, followed by Assam and Nepal musk, while Carbadine musk from Russian and Chinese Himalayan regions are considered inferior. Obtaining one kilogram (2.2 lb) of musk grains requires between thirty and fifty deer, making musk tinctures highly expensive. At the beginning of the 19th century, Tonkin musk grains cost about twice their weight in gold.
Musk has been a key constituent in many perfumes since its discovery, being held to give a perfume long-lasting power as a fixative. Despite its high price, musk tinctures were used in perfumery until 1979, when musk deers were protected as an endangered species by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). Today the trade quantity of the natural musk is controlled by CITES but illegal poaching and trading continues. An illegal shipment of 700 kilograms (1,500 lb) of Chinese musk from the musk deer was seized in Japan in 1987, an amount corresponding to approximately 100,000 deer killed. from:http://huihongtuchan.blogtownhall.com/
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