The Sphinx moth has a musky odor which is confined to the male and is
doubtless sexual. Some lizards have a musky odor which is heightened at
the sexual season; crocodiles during the pairing season emit from their
submaxillary glands a musky odor which pervades their haunts. In the same
way elephants emit a musky odor from their facial glands during the
rutting season. The odor of the musk-duck is chiefly confined to the
breeding season.[61] The musky odor of the negress is said to be
heightened during sexual excitement.
The predominance of musk as a sexual odor is associated with the fact that
its actual nervous influence, apart from the presence of sexual
association, is very considerable. Fere found it to be a powerful muscular
stimulant. In former times musk enjoyed a high reputation as a cardiac
stimulant; it fell into disuse, but in recent years its use in asthenic
states has been revived, and excellent results, it has been claimed, have
followed its administration in cases of collapse from Asiatic cholera. For
sexual torpor in women it still has (like vanilla and sandal) a certain
degree of reputation, though it is not often used, and some of the old
Arabian physicians (especially Avicenna) recommended it, with castoreum
and myrrh, for amenorrhoea.
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