Editing Musk (section)

==Sources==

===Deer===
{{main|Musk deer}}
[[File:Primary Form of Musk.jpg|thumb|A musk pod, obtained by killing a male [[musk deer]]]]
The musk deer belongs to the family [[Moschidae]] and lives in [[Tibet]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Historical Section of the Foreign Office (Great Britain)|title="Tibet". Handbook (No. 70)|series=Handbooks... No.70|date=19 June 2021|publisher=H M Stationery Office (1920)|hdl=2027/uc1.32106000253184?urlappend=%3Bseq=72v|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.32106000253184?urlappend=%3Bseq=72v}}</ref> [[India]], [[Nepal]], [[Pakistan]], [[Afghanistan]], [[China]], [[Siberia]], [[Mongolia]], [[Manchuria]], [[Korea]] and [[North Vietnam]].

The musk pod, a [[preputial gland]] in a pouch, or sac, under the skin of the abdomen of the male musk deer, is normally obtained by killing the male deer through traps laid in the wild. Upon drying, the reddish-brown paste inside the musk pod turns into a black [[granular material]] called "musk grain", which is then tinctured with alcohol. The aroma of the [[tincture]] gives a pleasant odor only after it is considerably [[:wikt:dilute|dilute]]d. No other natural substance has such a complex aroma associated with so many contradictory descriptions; it is usually described abstractly as animalistic, earthy and woody<ref name=Rimkus/> or something akin to the odor of baby's skin.<ref name=Kraft/>

Musk has been a key constituent in many perfumes since its discovery, being held to give a perfume long-lasting power as a fixative. Today, the trade quantity of the natural musk is controlled by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ([[CITES]]), but illegal [[poaching]] and trading continues.<ref name=Kraft>{{cite book | title = Chemistry and Technology of Flavours and Fragrances | first = David J. (Ed.)| last = Rowe |author2=Philip Kraft |author2-link=Philip Kraft | chapter = Chapter 7. Aroma Chemicals IV: Musks | publisher = Blackwell | isbn = 0-8493-2372-X | year = 2004}}</ref>

{{Gallery
|File:Moschustier.jpg|''Moschus moschiferus'', [[Siberian musk deer]]
|File:Musk 1616.jpg|"Musk-cat", woodcut from ''Hortus Sanitatis'', 1491
}}

===Other animals===
[[File:Ondatra zibethicus FWS.jpg|thumb|right|''Ondatra zibethicus'', the [[muskrat]]]]
[[Muskrat]] (''Ondatra zibethicus''), a rodent native to [[North America]], has been known since the 17th century to secrete a glandular substance with a musky odor.<ref name=Groom/> A chemical means of extracting it was discovered in the 1940s, but it did not prove commercially worthwhile.<ref name=Groom>{{cite book | title = New Perfume Handbook | first = Nigel | last = Groom | pages = 219–220 | publisher = Springer | year = 1997 | isbn = 0-7514-0403-9 }}</ref>

Glandular substances with musk-like odors are also obtained from the [[musk duck]] (''Biziura lobata'') of southern [[Australia]], the [[muskox]], the [[musk shrew]], the [[musk beetle]] (''Aromia moschata''), the [[African civet]] (''Civettictis civetta''), the [[Sternotherus odoratus|musk turtle]] (''Sternotherus odoratus''), the [[American alligator]] of [[North America]],  lynx musk, ''lungurion'' which, in antiquity, was highly valued, and from several other animals.

In [[crocodile]]s, there are two pairs of musk glands, one pair situated at the corner of the jaw and the other pair in the [[cloaca]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Elsevier's Dictionary of Herpetological and Related Terminology | first = D.C. |last = Wareham | publisher = [[Elsevier Science]] | year = 2005 | isbn =0-444-51863-0 | page = 129}}</ref>

===Plants===
{{NIE Poster|Musk Plant}}
Some plants such as ''[[Angelica archangelica]]'' or ''[[Abelmoschus moschatus]]'' produce musky-smelling macrocyclic lactone compounds. These compounds are widely used in perfumery as substitutes for animal musk or to alter the smell of a mixture of other musks.

The plant sources include the musk flower (''[[Mimulus moschatus]]'') of western North America, the muskwood (''[[Olearia argophylla]]'') of Australia, and the musk seeds (''[[Abelmoschus moschatus]]'') from India.