THE HONEY BEE. ] 23 



Wax. Wax is a vegetable product, deriving its ori- 

 gin from the saccharine principle existing abundantly 



* The honey-dew was noticed by the ancients, and is men- 

 tioned by Pliny by the fanciful designation of ' the sweats of 

 the heavens,' and ' the saliva of the stars, 1 though he question- 

 ed whether it is not a deposition from the air, purging this 

 from some contracted impurity. More modern philosophers 

 have been quite as erroneous and discordant in their opinions 

 relative to its nature. Some, with the most immitigable aspe- 

 rity, declare that it is the excrement of aphides ; others as ex- 

 clusively maintain that it is an atmospheric deposite ; and a 

 third party consider that it arises from bleeding consequent to 

 the wounds of insects. That there may be a glutinous sac- 

 charine liquid found upon the leaves of plants, arising from 

 the first and third named causes, is probable, or rather cer- 

 tain ; but this is by no means conclusive that there is not a 

 similar liquid extravasated upon the surface of the leaves, ow- 

 ing to some unhealthy action of their vessels. It is with this 

 description of honey-dew that we are here concerned. The 

 earor into which writers on this subject appear to have fallen, 

 consists in their having endeavoured to assign the origin of 

 every kind of honey-dew to the same cause." After noticing 

 the theories of White and Curtis, the writer goes on to say, 

 ** The various successful application of liquids to plants, in 

 order to prevent the occurrence of honey-dew, and similar dis- 

 eases, would seem to indicate that a morbid state of the sap is 

 th chief cause of the honey-dew : for otherwise it would be 

 difficult to explain the reason why the use of a solution of 

 common salt in water, applied to the soil in which a plant is 

 growing, can prevent the appearance of a disease caused by 

 insects. But if we admit that the irregular action of the sap 

 is the cause of the disorder, then we can understand that a 

 portion of salt, introduced into the juices of the plant, would 

 naturally have a tendency to correct or vary any morbid tend- 

 ency, either correcting the too rapid secretion of sap, stimu- 

 lating it in promoting its regular formation, or preserving its 



