NATURAL 
~ much diluted vitriolic acid must be 
added 2s may be sufficient to sepa- 
rate the acid of the honey from the 
lead: this acid may then be con- 
centrated by evaporation. 
q. Ifthe solution of honey and 
quick lime is thickened by evapo- 
ration, after its brown colour is 
taken away by charcoal, a trans- 
parent mass of a light yellow co. 
lour, is produced, which resem- 
bles gum arabic; it has a bitter 
taste, and does not grow moist by 
being exposed to the air. 
8. The clear mass which is 
produced from a mixture of the 
acid of honey and lime is perfectly 
insoluble in spirit of wine ; and it 
may be precipitated from its solu- 
tion in water by this spirit. 
g. Caustic fixed alkalies produce 
upon honey, and upon the sugar 
which is procured from it, the 
same effect as lime. Honey, as 
well as its sugar, is entirely decom- 
posed by them; and always with a 
very violent effervescence. The 
dark coloured extractive mass which 
is obtained by these means is com- 
pletely insoluble in spirit of wine ; 
and, when the quantities of the 
two substances are exa€tly propor- 
tioned, very little taste can be per- 
ceived in the mass; that little is 
by no means alkaline, and can 
hardly be called saline. This proves 
that alkalies, as well as quick lime, 
may be perfectly saturated by the 
acid contained in honey. 
10. Volatile alkali also decom- 
poses honey in the same manner, 
and with the same circumstances, 
as other alkalies ; but this decom- 
position takes place_much more 
slowly, and only when heat is at 
the same time made use of. 
VII. That constituent part of 
honey which is got from it by treat- 
ing it with the spirit of wine (III.) 
HISTORY. [Ail 
may be distinguished from the su- 
gar ofhoney, by the following pro- 
perty, wiz. that it cannot be re- 
duced into-a dry or solid form. It 
is owing to this particuiar part that 
the solution of honey so readily con. 
tracts a brown colour ; for a solu. 
tion of sugar of honey, deprived of 
this glutinous part, may be thick- 
ened upon the fire without suffers 
ing avy alteration of colour, In 
other respects, the yellow gluti- 
nous part of honey, -here spoken of, 
shews nearly the same properties as 
the sugar of honey; and when 
treated with caustic alkalies, or 
with quick lime, its taste is also 
the same. 
VIIl. The properties which I 
have above described, are those by 
which the sugar of honey differs 
essentially from common sugar. 
If this last is treated like honey, 
it exhibits the following results. 
1. Neither quick lime nor fixed 
alkalies produce any decomposition 
in sugars ; no effervescence is ob- 
served, nor does the solution shew 
any change of colour. 
2. Whatever quantity of sugar 
is added to fixed alkalies, they al- 
ways preserve their causticity; and, 
even if they are boiled with sugar 
for a considerable time, they never 
appear to be united with its acid. 
As quick lime, when combined 
with sugar, is attended with some 
phenomena which appear not to 
have been taken notice of by any 
person, I shall here mention them. 
By boiling together equal parts of 
sugar and quick lime, in a suflici- 
ent quantity of water, a solution is 
obtained, which, by the surpris- 
ing quantity of lime it contains, 
may be considered as highly satu- 
rated lime-water, in which the 
taste of the sugar is not to be per- 
ceived, 
By 
