Musk

IMG:p402_6.png:Chinese characters she hsiang. A secretion of the r.avel of the musk-deer, Moschus moschatus which is found all over Tibet, but especially on the plains of Kokonor. The destruction of these animals at the cloise of last century was enormous, and exportation of musk declined in quantity, bu-t its value trebled in a decade. It is very extensively used in China in medicine, in perfumery, and in the preservation of clothes from moths; of late years Paris perfumery houses have sent agents to Likiang on the Upper Yangtze, to buy up supplies. In 1902 Hosie estimated the value of the annual Tibetan export at Tls. 1,000,000; in 1913 this amount was exported from all the Treaty ports, half of it going abroad, chiefly to the United States and France. In 1897 the killing of the deer was forbidden by the Dalai Lama, as indicated by his horoscope, but the prohibition was evaded. In 1916 the export was 18,893 taels (oz.), value Hk.Tls. 515,941. See Mush-deer. Customs and Consular Reports.