- A perfume ingredient - Deer secretion used in perfumery - Perfume ingredient - A substance of a reddish brown color, and when fresh of the
consistence of honey, obtained from a bag being behind the navel of the
male musk deer. It has a slightly bitter taste, but is specially
remarkable for its powerful and enduring odor. It is used in medicine
as a stimulant antispasmodic. The term is also applied to secretions of
various other animals, having a similar odor. - The musk deer. See Musk deer (below). - The perfume emitted by musk, or any perfume somewhat similar. - The musk plant (Mimulus moschatus).
- Perfume base - Perfume ingredient - A substance of the consistence of wax, found floating in
the Indian Ocean and other parts of the tropics, and also as a morbid
secretion in the intestines of the sperm whale (Physeter
macrocephalus), which is believed to be in all cases its true origin.
In color it is white, ash-gray, yellow, or black, and often variegated
like marble. The floating masses are sometimes from sixty to two
hundred and twenty-five pounds in weight. It is wholly volatilized as a
white vapor at 212¡ Fahrenheit, and is highly valued in perfumery.