Honey , the saccharine juices of plants, collected by bees from flowers, and deposited by them in the waxen cells of the comb. These juices undergo some modification in the honey bag of the bee; but though their chemical character is somewhat changed, they still retain the flavor and to some extent the peculiar properties of the plants from which they were collected. Under a powerful microscope the pollen that was mixed with the juices may bo detected in the honey, and even referred to the particular kind of plant to which it belonged. The prevalence of certain varieties may determine what sort of localities have been most frequented by the bees. Flowers of sweet perfume impart agreeable odor and flavor to the honey; so that the product of some districts is famed and prized, while the bees of others, drawing upon very different sources, give to the honey they make the disagreeable or even dangerous properties of the plants themselves. Thus the honey of Mt. Ida in Crete has been always held in the highest estimation, as also that of Narbonne and Cha-mouni; but the honey of Trebizond causes headache and vomiting, and possesses poisonous qualities, supposed to be derived from the rhododendron, azalea Pontica. The substances recognized in honey are grape sugar, manna, gum mucilage, extractive, a little wax, pollen, acid, and odoriferous substances.

When allowed to drain from the comb it is wholly fluid, and this, as well as the superior quality first made in the season, and deposited in the upper part of the hives, is known as virgin honey. But as ordinarily pressed out it holds a solid crystalline sugar, which may be separated by draining and pressing the fluid portion through a linen bag. The sugar is believed to be identical with grape sugar; but excepting its consistency and tendency to crystallize, it is not apparently different from the fluid honey. Their taste and chemical properties are the same. The proportion of crystal-lizable sugar increases with the age of the honey, so as to give it in time a granular character. The consistency of honey is thus very variable. The best and newest of the spring season is a clear fluid contained in a white comb; older honey is yellowish and reddish. It is freely dissolved in cold water, and in this condition honey undergoes the vinous fermentation. Various substances are introduced into honey to add to it's weight or to improve its color. Starch is most commonly employed, but chalk, plaster of Paris, and pipe clay are also used.

The presence of such matters may be detected by dissolving some of the honey in warm water, and letting the mixture stand for the deposit to fall, when its character may be easily ascertained. The different sugars are also used as adulterants, the presence of all which may be detected either by microscopic observations directed to the forms and comparative sizes of the crystals, or to the presence of the sugar acari, or by the chemical tests also cited with the others by Dr. Hassall in his work, "Adulterations Detected." Starch sugar, possessing the same chemical properties as the sugar of honey, cannot be detected; but being often accompanied by sulphate of lime, resulting from the materials used in its preparation, the presence of this is an indication of adulteration with starch sugar. From the remotest times honey has been employed as an article of food; and to the ancients, in the absence of sugar, it was of greater importance than to the moderns. A land flowing with milk and honey was to them a region abounding in the chief necessaries of life. - As an article of diet and of medicine, honey possesses the properties of sugar, and is perhaps more laxative.

Many constitutions, especially those subject to dyspepsia, cannot resist its disordering tendency; but those accustomed to its use find it wholesome and agreeable. In medicine its use is principally as a vehicle for other more active substances; but its composition and action upon all constitutions being somewhat uncertain, a solution of pure sugar is generally preferred even for this purpose. When in combination with vinegar, the preparations are called oxymels. Honey is easily clarified by heating it in a water bath till it becomes so fluid as to be readily strained through flannel. The wax and lighter impurities may be removed by skimming, while the heavier substances sink to the bottom.