HONEY-STONE 801 



in largo quantities from Norway. In Charnwood Forest, near Mount Sorrel, in 

 Leicestershire, particularly from the Whittle Hill quarry, is obtained the Chamley 

 Forest Stone, said to be one of the best substitutes for the Turkey oilstone, and it 

 is much in request by joiners and others. Ayr stone, Snake stone, and Scotch stone, 

 are used especially for polishing copper plates. The Welsh oilstone is almost in equal 

 repute with the Charnley Forest stone ; it is obtained from the vicinity of Llynldwall, 

 near Snowdon, and hence it is sometimes called Idwall stone. From Snowdon is also 

 obtained the cutler's green stone. The Devonshire oilstones, obtained near Tavistock, 

 which were introduced by Mr. John Taylor, are of excellent quality ; 'but the supply 

 of them being irregular, they have fallen into disuse. 



The German razor-hone has been long celebrated. It is obtained from the slate 

 mountains in the neighbourhood of Eatisbon, where it occurs in the form of a yellow 

 vein running through the blue slate, varying in thickness from 1 to 18 inches. When 

 quarried it is sawn into thin slabs, and these are generally cemented to slices of slate 

 which serve as a support. Sometimes, however, the yellow and the blue slate are cut 

 out naturally combined. There are several other hone stones, which, however, require 

 no particular notice. 



The Turkey oilstone is said to surpass in its way every other known substance, and 

 it possesses in an eminent degree the property of abrading the hardest steel ; it is, at 

 the same time, of so compact and close a nature as to resist the pressure necessary 

 for sharpening a graver, or any instrument of that description. There are white and 

 black varieties of the Turkey oilstone, the black being the hardest, and it is imported 

 in somewhat larger pieces than the white ; they are found in the interior of Asia 

 Minor, and are brought down to Smyrna for sale. 



HONEY (Mel, Fr. ; Honig, Ger.) is a sweet viscid liquor, secreted in the nectaries 

 of flowers, collected by the working bees, and deposited by them in the waxen cells 

 of their combs. Virgin honey is that which is collected from a hive, the bees of which 

 have never swarmed ; the common honey is obtained from the older hives. The former, 

 which is considered the best, is whitish or pale yellow, of a granular texture, a fragrant 

 smell, and a sweet slightly pungent taste ; the latter is darker coloured, thicker, and 

 not so agreeable either in taste or smell. Honey would seem to be simply collected 

 by the bees, for it consists of merely the vegetable products, such as the sugars of 

 grape, gum, and manna, along with mucilage, extractive matter, a little wax, and 

 acid. 



Narbonne honey, the flavour of which is so much admired, owes its peculiarity to 

 the flowers on which the bees feed. 



Trebizond honey has been long celebrated for its intoxicating qualities. The 

 description given in Xenophon's ' Eetreat of the Ten Thousand ' is well known. Many 

 examples of poisonous honey are on record. 



Honey is collected and sold to a considerable extent in Britain, particularly in the 

 north-western counties of Wales. At Wrexham in Denbighshire there is an annual 

 fair, called the ' Honey Fair.' Many ale breweries employ a portion of honey to add 

 strength and flavour to their brewings. .' 



HONEY-COMB. The waxen cells of the bee. See WAX. 



HONEY-DEW. A viscid saccharine substance, resembling manna, and occurring 

 on the leaves of the lime, black alder, maple, rose, oak, and other trees. Its secretion 

 appears to be due to certain abnormal conditions of the plank Boussingault analysed 

 the honey-dew collected in July and August 1869, from the leaves of a lime at 

 Liebfrauenberg in the Vosges. It contained a sugar, analogous to cane-sugar, together 

 with levulose or fruit-sugar and dextrine. The proportions of these substances, as 

 determined by optical examination with polarised light, were as follow: 



Cane-sugar . . . . i - ^ 48'86 55'44 



Inverted sugar .... 28'59 2475 



Dextrine . . . ' . 22' 55 19-81 



lOO'OO 100*00 



The second analysis is almost identical with that of the manna of Mount Sinai, as de- 

 termined by Berthelot. It has been calculated that in one day a single lime-tree may 

 yield from 4 to 7 Ibs. of honey-dew, reckoned in a dry state. 



HONEY-STONE. (Mellite, Fr. ; Honigstein, Ger.) A mineral of a yellowish 

 or reddish ^ colour, and a resinous aspect, crystallising in octahedrons with a square 

 base ; specific gravity T58. It is harder than gypsum, but not so hard as calc-spar ; 

 it is deeply scratched by a steel point ; very brittle ; affords water by calcination ; 

 blackens, then burns at the flame of the blowpipe, and leaves a white residuum which 



VOL. II. 3 F 



