Animals: Musky Immigrants

The steamship Bergensfjord landed in Manhattan last week with a cargo of 34 musk oxen for the U. S. Government. The animals had come all the way from East Greenland via Norway; had even farther to travel after they reached Manhattan. The U. S. Government had bought them to release in the vicinity of Fairbanks, Alaska. The U. S. plans to spend $40,000 to re-establish the herds of musk oxen which disappeared from Alaska before men can remember.

The musk ox stands 5 ft. tall at the shoulder, has a broad heavy head, large curved horns, can live on Arctic vegetation which would starve a reindeer. Because of their hardy qualities, attempts were made two years ago to domesticate them for use as Arctic cows. Capt. Robert Abram Bartlett, leader of the Northeast Greenland Expedition, has two tame musk ox mascots which he captured in Greenland. Under its shaggy coat, the musk ox has a close covering of woolly fleece which experiments (at the University of Leeds, England) have shown to be excellent for cloth. It dyes and bleaches well, is as soft as cashmere, does not shrink. The meat of the musk ox cannot be distinguished from beef, nor the milk from cow’s milk. Neither meat nor milk taste of the strong musk odor which is characteristic of the animal and can be detected several hundred feet away.

Most important of musky-smelling ani. mals is the musk deer. The secretion from a small sac found in the male causes the pungent odor, is used in many perfumes. “Musk” was originally the name of musk deer perfume, later was transferred to all animals and plants which had a similar odor. Some musk animals: muskrat, musk duck, musk beetle, musk shrew, musk turtle, musk kangaroo. Plants: musk mallow, musk root, musk clover, musk orchis, musk okra.