Mr Jackson is a retired pharmacist, a past president of the British
Society of the History of Pharmacy and a member of the International
Academy for the History of Pharmacy
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Civet is a musk-like substance, of about the same consistency as
butter, produced by the two
perineal glands of civet cats. The glands form a deep pouch in the abdomen,
divided into two sacs, in which the secretion is stored. There are several
species of civet cat, but the two main ones are the African and Indian
cat. Approximately three feet long, they are nocturnal animals with
spotted bodies and ringed tails.
Copper engraving of a civet cat from Pomet’s “A compleat
history of druggs’, translated into English, with additions
from Lemery and Tournefort, London, 1712 |
Civet varies in colour (from cream to yellow to dark brown) becoming
darker and stiffer in texture as it ages, especially when exposed to
air. Pure
civet has a strong and disagreeable odour, but this becomes attractive
when diluted and, throughout its
history, its main use has been in perfumery. In order to retain their
fragrance most
perfumes require a “fixative” and civet is an excellent,
though expensive one. Civet in the 17th century
At a time when the bubonic plague was feared by all and, as Thomas
Lodge observed in 1603, was believed to result from “corrupted aire
and evil vapours”, perfumes were thought to offer some protection
against the disease. One way to avoid “contaminated aire” was
to carry a sweet-smelling pomander and frequently inhale the perfume
from it. Plague doctors wore masks with beaks that were filled with
spices to purify the air they breathed.
In an age when polypharmaceutical preparations were common, pomanders
frequently contained many ingredients. One recipe for “a pomander
of excellent sent and savour good against pestilent aires ” which
Lodge gave instructed the maker to “take pure and sweete Ladanum1,
Beniamin, Storax Calamite2 of the Trocisques of Gallia Moscata,3 of Cloves,
Mace, Spikenard, the wood of Aloes, the three Saunders,4 the rootes of
Orace [orris], of eache halfe and ounce, let all these be beaten to a
fine
powder and searsed [sieved], and then incorporate the whole with liquide
Storax, adding thereunto of Muske and Amber, of each a dramme, of Civet
two drammes, make a paste hereof with the insection of Gum Tragacents
in Rose water”.
Pierre Pomet, chief druggist to Louis XIV of France received a civet
cat from a friend as a gift in 1688 and kept it for a year. He collected
the secretions from the
perineal glands on alternate days and after a few months had obtained
about an ounce and a half. He showed this to a number of people but,
although it was well scented, they were not impressed by it because of
its colour, so he decided to discontinue the practice. It sounds as though
Pomet was rather piqued by their attitude because he remarked that his
civet was “as good at least as that which is brought from Holland”.
However, civet from Holland was white because the Dutch, who were well
known as traders in this commodity, fed their cats on milk and egg whites.
Pomet described the actual process of collecting civet as being “not
without some Trouble and Hazard, because it put the creature to some
Pain or Apprehension of it”. The Dutch were said to keep their
cats in narrow cages so that they could not turn round and bite the person
extracting the civet. Pomet refuted the theories that civet was the dung
or sweat of the animal, or that it was necessary to beat the cat before
it would produce any of the secretion.
It appeared that adulteration of the product was not uncommon and the
Dutch attached small printed certificates guaranteeing the origin and
purity to their pots of civet. Adulterated civet became mouldy, rank
and disagreeable on keeping, and was sometimes coloured red and sold
as “Guinea Civet”.
Pomet believed civet to be of little use medicinally, being used mainly
by confectioners and perfumers to scent other ingredients, though it
had to be used with discretion, as too much would make the smell disagreeable
instead of pleasant.
However in the seventeenth century, Shakespeare’s son-in-law, John
Hall, used a plaster of Caranna,5 in the middle of which was placed musk
and civet in “cotton-wooll”, to treat Fulca Swift of Warwick
Castle for
hysteria, by applying it to her navel.
In 1678 William Salmon wrote, in the Pharmacopoeia Londinensis (the New
London Dispensatory), that civet was a “concreted Juice or Humor
in a bladder between the Cods [testicles]” and was used to combat
vertigo and apoplexy when anointed on the nostrils, temples and crown.
If applied to the navel or used in a pessary it helped “Fits of
the Mother [uterus], Belly-ach and Cholick”. Dissolved in oil of
amber, it cured pain and deafness, and the smell was a remedy for epilepsy.
If put in wine, it
stupefied and intoxicated the drinker. The gall of a bull, liquid storax
and honey were used as adulterants. Because of its high price Salmon
included a formula for artificial civet or “Zibethum Artificiale” in
the section on ointments. Made from oil of nutmegs, clarified honey,
civet, powders of pyre-thrum, black pepper, cubebs and musk, it contained
less than 2 per cent of genuine civet. Of this, he said: “It strengthens
the Head, Brain, Heart and Spirits wonderfully, being taken inwardly
and anointed outwardly.”
Also in the 17th century, a French doctor, Nicolas Lemery, believed that
civet was useful for all diseases of the head, brain and womb, and could
be used to perfume cordial waters and powders for these conditions when
mixed with musk and ambergris. A sponge impregnated with civet could
be used as a pessary to treat hysterical fits and vapours and, if put
into the ears with a little cotton, civet would help to relieve hardness
of hearing. A tincture made from civet, musk and ambergris in spirit
of wine anointed on the glans penis just before intercourse was said
to cause impregnation and cure barrenness. Finally, civet was good for “colick” in
infants if applied to the navel. Lemery gave
a number of names for
the substance, “Zibethum, Zibetha, Civeta, Zepetium or, in English,
Civet”. He observed that merchants bred tame civet cats, feeding
them on bran, rice-milk, hard-boiled eggs, bread and flesh, and that
a large, gentle cat was worth between four and eight pounds sterling — a
considerable sum. Civet was much to be preferred to musk because its
scent was finer, but it was
frequently adulterated with ox gall, storax and honey. He confirmed that
the Dutch exported it in pots, complete with certificates of purity,
but said that the best quality came from England.
It is interesting that Daniel Defoe (1660–1731) before he became
the author of classics such as ‘Robinson Crusoe’, ‘A
Journal of the Plague Year’, and ‘Moll Flanders’, was
employed in a number of different ways, one of which was breeding civet
cats. The commercial importance of civet in the 17th century is indicated
by the fact that it was possible to earn one’s living in this way. Civet in perfumery
Civet was used in the heavy perfumes of the 16th century that were
necessary to mask the smell of unwashed bodies, to perfume such items
as gloves
in the 17th and 18th centuries and elaborate Victorian valentine cards.
A 16th century formula for perfuming leather was to take a quarter
of an ounce each of civet, amber and musk and one ounce of orange flowers.
These were ground together and mixed with half an ounce of “Oyl
of Beanes” or one ounce of sweet almonds.
A horn in which civet was imported from Abyssinia |
As a fixative, civet ensured that perfumes kept their fragrance and,
I believe, it is still used for this purpose today. We have seen that
adulteration was not uncommon because of its price, and in the 19th century
the secretion produced by pole-cats (known as “pole-cat civet”)
was sold as genuine civet in spite of its dark colour. In the early 20th
century it was imported from Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). It was extracted
using a small horn spoon or spatula and packed in bullocks’ horns,
each of which could hold a quantity varying from 25 to 60 ounces. The
tip of each horn was cut off and the resulting hole plugged with hard
wax. The wide end of the horn was grooved on the outside and covered
with a piece of leather, tied in place with grass fibre, the grooves
ensuring that this held the leather cap firmly in place. The belief that
an angry animal produced more civet persisted into the 20th century,
and cats were tied by their legs to the bars of
the cage and teased and irritated in the
hope of increasing the yield. Most of these horns were sent to Aden (Yemen)
before being shipped to London, Marseilles and New York.
It is now known that the characteristic odour of civet is produced
mainly by the presence of
skatole (3-methylindole) and a ketone named zibethone and, so far, it
has not been found possible to produce a synthetic fixative as efficient
as
genuine civet. Signs, trade cards and advertisements
Advertisement for Bayley and Co, 1891 |
It is hard for us to appreciate, nowadays, just how important trade
signs were in helping a largely illiterate public to find the business
premises
that they were seeking. Practically the only surviving examples are
the signs hanging outside some hotels and public houses, but some of
us will remember the red and white spirally striped barbers’ poles,
the colours representing blood and bandages — a reminder of the
times when barbers would bleed customers for therapeutic purposes and
perform minor surgery. Nearly all these and similar signs have now
disappeared though there are still a few large models of mortars and
pestles outside pharmacies, mainly in Scotland or the border towns.
The mortar and pestle, however, has not always been a sign of an apothecary
or chemist and druggist. In 1740 it was a sign used by William Sellers
who was a brazier in Little Tower Street, London.
In the 17th century many shops were identified by boards suspended
from iron brackets or mounted on a post in front of the shop. As time
passed,
they became so large and elaborate that they obstructed much of the light
and air in London’s narrow streets. Additionally, little was done
to maintain them and the supporting ironwork deteriorated until many
signs were a danger to the public. For example, in 1718 one large sign
in Bride Lane fell and killed four people, but it was not until 1762
that a proclamation was issued ordering their removal, a process that
led to the numbering of buildings for identification.
Shop signs, or a
simplified version of them, were often used on trade cards. These were
not like the small business cards
of today, but handbills
ranging from small octavo to quarto or even folio size. Trade cards gave
the name of the shopkeeper, the
situation of the shop, and the goods or services
supplied. Trade cards were, in fact, advertisements. Billheads (letterheads)
also sometimes depicted the shop sign. Following this tradition these
signs were sometimes used on later advertisements.
It was not uncommon for related tradesmen to adopt similar signs and
the one that found greatest favour with perfumers was the civet cat.
In 1705 D. D. D. Dighton, who later became “sworn perfumer” to
King George I, carried on his business at the “City of Seville”,
in Fleet Street, and displayed an elaborate sign depicting a civet cat
above a panoramic view of Seville. James Smyth and Nephews in Bond Street
(1766), Walter Turnbull at 41, Cornhill (1780) and Philip Dixon of 1
Norris Street (1790) all used the sign of the civet cat. In addition,
Stephen Brearcliffe, who is listed as a chemist and druggist, used the
attractive civet cat and three herrings near Cloth Fair in West Smithfield,
in about 1760.
In the 19th century, earthenware pots were used as retail containers
for substances such as cold cream, toothpaste and ointments. These carried
underglaze prints often showing the name of the product and the name
and address of the manufacturer or retailer. Some of them had pictorial
designs, and among these was one for
Bayley & Co’s Cold Cream with the address 17 Cockspur Street,
London, and a drawing of a civet cat. This was introduced in 1887, and
used until March 1896. When the
company moved to 94 St Martin’s Lane, a lid with the new address
and the words “The old civet cat” printed underneath the
picture of the animal was used. In 1891
Bayleys published a printed advertisement that included a picture of
a civet cat. Civet today
The flesh of civet cats is considered to be a culinary delicacy in
Southern China, and large numbers of the cats are reared in captivity.
It is
believed that it was in this area that severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) was first diagnosed in humans in 2002.
Microbiologists at the University of Hong Kong screened a large number
of
animals and found that some masked palm civets carried a coronavirus
that could cause SARS. They thought that although it was unlikely that
properly cooked civet flesh could infect people, the virus could have
been transferred to people who raised, killed and cooked civet cats.
Conversely, scientists from the China Agricultural University said that
they had screened 732 animals of 65 different species but were unable
to find any evidence that civet cats were a source of the SARS virus.
Nevertheless, they did identify three new coronaviruses in civet cats
as well as in hares and some other animals, and believed that these were
capable of mutation.
Clearly a great deal more research needs to be carried out before a definite
link between the SARS virus and the consumption of civets can be established
or disproved. A ban on trading in civet cats and other wild animals was
introduced in China, but this has been lifted and a number of restaurants
have since obtained permits to serve wildlife products, including civet
cats.
In The Pharmaceutical Journal (23 August 2003, (PDF 100K)), “Onlooker” observed
that it was considered unlikely that civet cats played a crucial role
in the life cycle of the SARS virus, and that those carrying the virus
more probably contracted it in the food markets of China, where animals
of different species were kept together in close confinement, or that
they had become infected in the wild. He concluded: “Only serious
international collaboration can effectively guard the world against a
menacing coronavirus in years to come.”
Finally, I should like to add a note to reassure any gastronomes who
wish to enjoy recipes such as “civet of hare”. Here, the
word is used for dishes moistened with red wine, garnished with little
onions, lardons6 and mushrooms, and cooked before being combined with
the blood of the animal. In these dishes the word “civet” is
derived from the French word “cive”, a green onion, formerly
used in their preparation. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author wishes to thank Briony Hudson and Peter Homan
of the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society’s Museum for their help.
Footnotes
1. Ladanum or labdanum was a resin obtained from the Cistus
creticus tree. The tree was lashed with leather straps and the
exudate
that adhered to the leather was then scraped off for use.
2. Storax calamite is the dry sort of storax not the liquid.
3. Lozenges of gallia moscata were made from aloes, amber,
and musk with mucilage.
4. The three saunders or sanders were yellow, white and red
Sandalwood.
5. Caranna was a tree resin imported from South America.
6. Lardons are diced bacon that has been blanched and fried. |
Bibliography
• Phararmacopoeia Londinensis or the New London Dispensatory,
William Salmon, 1678.
• A Compleat History of Druggs, Pierre Pomet with additions from
Lemery and Tournefort, Done into English in 1712.
• A New Medical Dictionary, G. Motherby, 1775.
• The Edinburgh New Dispensatory, [Charles Webster and Ralph Irving]
1786.
• Supplement to the Pharmacopoeia or a Treatise on Pharmacology,
Samuel, F. Gray, 1836.
• The Treasury of Natural History, Samuel Maunder, revised by E.
W. H. Holdsworth, 1878.
• A Treatise of the Plague, Thomas Lodge, 1603, Facsimile reprint
1880.
• Larousse Gastronomique, Prosper Montagné and Dr. Gottschalk,
1961.
• The Antiques of Perfume, Leslie G. Matthews, 1973.
• The Romantic Story of Scent, John Trueman, 1975.
• The Skilful Physician, (originally published in 1656) Edited
by C. Balaban, J. Erlen, and R. Siderits, 1997.
• The Price Guide to Black and White Pot-Lids, Ronald Dale, 1977.
• Signboards of Old London Shops, Sir Ambrose Heal, 1988.
• Private Lives, Mark Bryant, 1996. |
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