from the productiveness of its berries, it seems surprising that its culture is not more general. The mode in which this myrtle wax is obtained is as follows. Towards the end of autumn the natives gather the ripe berries, boil them in water, skim off the wax which rises, strain it off from its impurities, and set it to drain, after which, they remelt and form it into masses. Four pounds of berries yield about one pound of wax. From the wax thus procured, they make soap and candles. The soap manufactured from it is said to be excellent, and to wash linen perfectly white; the candles afford a good light, without smoke or guttering; their perfume is highly agreeable, not only during the time that they are burning, but for a considerable time afterwards. Mr. Sparrman suspects that myrtle wax is deposited upon the berries by insects, and Du Valde has given an account of a white wax made by small insects, round the branches of a tree in China, in great quantity, which is there collected for medical and economical purposes. (Description of China, vol. i. page 230.) Myrtle-wax therefore may not be a vegetable product. According to the experiments of M. Cadet and Dr. Bostock, this myrtle wax differs in some respects from bees-wax. It differs from it in colour, different specimens of it assuming different shades of yellowish green; its smell is also different; myrtle wax, when fresh, emitting a fragrant balsamic odour. It has in part the tenacity without the unctuosity of bees-wax, and somewhat of the brittleness of resin. Its specific gravity is greater, insomuch that it sinks in water, whereas bees-wax floats upon it; and it is not so easily bleached to form white wax. Hydrogen......... 12,67 "The formation of resin and wax has been explained thus:-That when a volatile or a fixed oil is expelled out of plants, and has its surface exposed to the air, the first becomes a resin by losing hydrogen, the second a wax by absorbing oxygen."-Parkes's Chemical Catechism, p. 244, 11th edit. CHAPTER XXIX. HONEY. HONEY is a well known, sweet, tenacious, substance, which in fine weather is continually secreting in the nectaries of flowers, chiefly from certain vesicles or glands situated near the basis of every petal, from whence it is collected by bees and other insects. The domestic honey bees consume a portion of this honey for food, at or near the time of gathering; but the principal part is regurgitated and poured into the cells of the hive, for the use of the community in winter:-so very abundant are these collections, in favourable seasons, as to afford to the apiarian an extensive share of them, without distressing the provident hoarders. Mr. Wildman states that in the year 1789, he purchased a glass filled with exceedingly fine honey-combs, weighing 63lbs., which had been collected within a month, and that the hive which it had surmounted still contained a full supply for the winter's consumption of the bees. This however was an unusual quantity; a hive or box, of the dimensions recommended in this work, may be considered as well stocked when it yields from 30 to 40lbs. of honey. The honey intended for early use, and for the nursing bees and drones, is deposited in cells which are allowed to remain open, and is probably of an inferior sort; whilst the finest honey, which is laid up in store for winter, is placed in the most inaccessible parts of the hive, and closed in the cells with waxen lids. "There cluster'd now clear wells of nectar glow, Like amber drops that sparkle in the Po, In the Philosophical Transactions for 1792, Mr. Hunter has stated, that whatever time the contents of the honey bags may be retained, they still remain pure and unaltered by the digestive process. Mr. Polhill, a gentleman to whom the public are indebted for several articles in Rees's Cyclopædia appertaining to bees, is also of this opinion. Messrs. Kirby and Spence do not admit this statement: as the nectar of flowers is not of so thick a consistence as honey, they think it must undergo some change in the stomach of the bee. This opinion is strengthened by what has been stated by Reaumur: he observed that if there was a deficiency of flowers, at the season of honeygathering, and the bees were furnished with sugar, they filled their cells with honey, differing in no other respect from honey collected in the usual way, but in its possessing a somewhat higher flavour. The same may be observed when they imbibe the juices of sweet fruits, for bees do not confine themselves solely to flowers and honeydewed leaves; they will sometimes very greedily absorb the juice of raspberries for instance, and thus spoil them for the table; they also visit in crowds the vats of the cider and wine maker. Reaumur has likewise remarked, that in each honey-cell there is a cream-like layer or covering, of a thicker consistence than the honey itself, which apparently serves to retain the more liquid collections that may from time to time be introduced under it. Messrs. Kirby and Spence say, that if honey were the unaltered nectar of flowers, it would be difficult to conceive how this cream could be collected in proper proportions. This observation is made, in consequence of their presuming that some of this cream-like covering is conveyed into the cells with each deposition of fresh honey; and it has been supposed that this cream was the last portion disgorged. According to an article in Rees's Cyclopædia, probably written by Mr. Polhill, this cream-like matter is formed at the very first, and every addition of honey is deposited beneath it. The bee, entering into the cell as deeply as possible, puts forward its anterior pair of legs, and with them pierces a hole through the crust or cream: while this hole is kept open |