134 O/i the Foifonous Honey of North America. 



Mefpili folio, florc luteo*j the azalea poutica, already men- 

 tioned. 



There are feveral paflages in the Roman poets, which 

 plainly fhow, that they were no (Grangers to the poifonous 

 properties of certain kinds of honey. It is not neceirary to 

 mention all thefe paflages. Bat the following are worthy of 

 notice. 



Virgil cautions us not to fufier a yew tree to grow about 

 bee-hives : 



Neu propius teftis taxum fine. 



Georgic. Lib. iv. 1. 47. 



In his 9th Eclogue, the fame philofophic poet fpeaks of 

 the yews of Corfica as being particularly injurious to bees. 



Sic tua Cyrnaeas fugiant examina taxos. 1. 30. 



The honey of Corfica was, as Dr. Martyn ftrongly expref-^ 

 fes it, " infamous for its evil qualities f." 



The railing of bees, for the purpofes of procuring their 

 honey and their wax, may, at fonie future period, become an 

 objeft of great importance to the United-States. Surely then 

 it would be a matter of confequence to attend to the cultiva- 

 tion or prcfervation of thofe vegetables which furnidi an in- 

 nocent and a well-flavoured honey, and a good wax. But 

 even in a more limited view of the fubjeft, fome knowledge 

 of thefe vegetables feems to be indifpenfably neceflfarv^ And 

 in the new fettlcment, whither the fettler has carried his bees, 



* See Tourncfort's Voyage into the Lcvanr, vol. iii. p. 6S. Englifli 

 tranflaticn. London, 1741. 



f Sec ills tranfiation of the Gcorgics of Virgil, note to line 47, in book 

 iv. Dr. Alsrtyn's criticifnis and annotations always demand attention. 

 I greatly doubr, however, if the taxus of Virgil be the common yew, ov 

 any fpecics of that genus. Martyn hiinfclf allows, that " it does not ap- 

 pear from other writers (befide Virgil), that Corfica abounded in yews." 

 I have been allured, that the yew is not an indigenous vegetable in that 

 ifland, and that it is even rare among the foreign vegetables. It may, in- 

 deed, be faid, perhaps it was common in the time of Virgil. 1 would ob- 

 ferve, that the yew ;s much lefs poifonous than has been commonly fup- 

 pofed. I know not that any modern writer has pretended that the bees 

 procure a pernicious honev from its flowers. Thefe fa6ts give rife to my 

 fufpicion, that the taxus of Viigil was not the yew, or taxus of the modern 

 botanifts. If not the yew, what vegetable was it J Perhaps, the buxus 

 virens, or box. Tliis vegetable abounds in Corfica, where to this day it is 

 known by the name of .'axo. The g'jntleinan from whom I received this 

 information aflTured me. that the bees of Corfica are very fond of the flow- 

 ers of the box, and that the honey from this fource is reputed poifonous. 

 The box is, unqueftionHbly, a poilbnous vegetable. But there is Itill a dif- 

 ficulty in the cafe. Virgil mentions both taxus and buxus. I think 

 the:e can be no doubt that his buxus (fee Georgic. lib. ii. 1. 449.) is the 

 bu.\us of the modern botanifts. 



whers 



