1380 ELEMENTS OP MATERIA MEDICA.

gorged by a kind of inverted peristaltic motion, and is probably 6< ^ e( jwhat altered in its properties by the secretions of the crop. I 1 lSby the animal as food.

Physical Properties. —Honey varies in its taste and odour acC ? r ],jveto the age of the bees, and the flowers on which they have fed- , rt ,.which has never swarmed is considered to yield the best, which , g g()fore, called virgin honey. The flavour of Narbonne honey, which 1 ^much admired, is said to arise from the labiate flowers on Whjc t0animals feed; to imitate this, a sprig of rosemary is sometimes acWthe honey obtained from other places. v ja

Clarified, honey (mel despumatum, D.) is prepared by melting ho •a water-bath, and removing the scum. It

Purity. —Flour, it is said, is now and then mixed with ho^opmay be readily distinguished by its insolubility in cold water, and 3blue colour produced by the addition of iodine.

The London College directs that honey,— taS .

Is not to be employed without being despumated. Dissolved in water, iodide osium and acid being added, it does not become of a blue colour. ^

Chemical Properties. —The constituents of honey vary soin ®" freaccording to the food of the bees, the season, the age of the arum a ^j e dmode of extracting it from the combs, &c. It must, however, be t e k' 0ll s,at all times as a concentrated solution of sugar, mixed with m °colouring, gummy, and waxy matters. The saccharine matter is ^kinds : one crystallizable, and analogous to the sugar of grapes; m ^ freincrystallizable, and similar to the uncrystallizable brown syrupsugar-cane. Guibourt has found also mannite, which differs fr 01 ®in not fermenting when mixed with water and yeast. trih' e ’

Physiological Effects. —Honey is emollient, demulcent, nn c0 jic-and laxative. When fresh it is apt to occasion indigestion anCollected from poisonous plants it has been found to possess del j e ]e-qualities. The honey of Trebizond has long been notorious for 1 - v p.terious qualities. Mr. Abbott ( Land. and Edinb. Phil. Mag- v ° aI) j a313, for Oct. 1834,) says it causes violent headache, vomitin^^ ofcondition like that of a tipsy man. A larger dose produces depnv witball sense and power for some hours afterwards. These effects ag 1 j,jsthose assigned to this honey by Xenophon ( Anabas. lib. lV 'jr a paccount of the “ retreat of the ten thousand.” Pliny [Hist-fi'

44, ed. Yalp.) also speaks of this poisonous honey. Tournem pel'

de VAcad. Roy. des Sciences, 1704, p. 351) ascribes its venomous 0 ities to the bees feeding on the Azalea pontica. Many other ins jgl >poisonous honey are on record (see Barton, Phil. Mag. vol. X11 ‘ *and in Beck’s Med. Jurisprud.) . v oV^

Uses. —Mixed with flour, and spread on linen or leather, it 18 aapplicaion to promote the maturation of small abscesses and [ a s tC ’It sometimes forms a constituent of gargles, partly on account ° ^ tb e

partly for its emollient operation. It is also used as a vehic eS pe'application of other more powerful agents to the mouth andthro^j d s 'cially in children. It is sometimes employed as an emollien ^ ar le)"mulcent in inflammatory affections. In troublesome cougn s > ^water, mixed with honey and sharpened with slices of lemon, , j^ii 1warm, forms a very agreeable and useful demulcent to allay tr°coughs.