786 



IIONDU HAS HONEY. 



GILES, born in 1583, at Utrecht, excelled in land- 

 scape painting. 



His son, G CSBRECHT, born in 1613, was celebrated 

 for his delineation of ducks and other fowls, as well 

 as of birds in general. 



M K i.t ii i. <u. tin- grandson.by far the most celebrated 

 of the three, was born in Utrecht, in 1636, and died 

 there, in 1695. 



HONDURAS, one of the states of Central Ame- 

 rica, is bounded north by the bay of Honduras, east 

 by the Caribbean sea, south by Nicaragua, and west 

 by Guatimala and Vera Paz ; 890 miles from east to 

 west, and 150 from north to south. The country 

 consists of mountains, valleys, and plains, watered 

 by a great number of rivers. It was formerly one 

 of the most populous countries of America ; at pre- 

 sent, though exceedingly fertile, it is almost a desert. 

 The climate is hot and moist, and in many parts 

 unhealthy. The soil is of great fertility, producing 

 in abundance the various kinds of tropical fruits and 

 vegetables. It yields three crops of maize and two 

 of grapes in a year ; other productions are wheat, 

 peas, cotton, wool, with excellent pastures, honey, 

 wax, provisions of all kinds ; but mahogany and log- 

 wood form the principal exports. Chief towns, Val- 

 ladolid, the capital, Truxillo, Gracias a Dios, St 

 Jago, and Omoa. The part lying on the northern 

 and eastern coast is known by the name of the Mos- 

 quito Shore, and is situated between 16 10' and 10 

 25f N. lat., and between 83 55' and 87 50" W. Ion. 

 It belongs to the Mosquito Indians. The British 

 have settlements in the country. 



HONDURAS ; a large bay between cape Catoche 

 and cape Honduras, having the coast of the province 

 of Honduras south, that of Yucatan west, and the 

 Caribbean sea east. Lat. 15 30' to 21 30? north. 

 It is well known, from the British settlement of 

 Balize, on the coast of Yucatan, formed for the pur- 

 pose of cutting mahogany and dyewoods. The town 

 of Balize contains about 200 whites, upwards of 500 

 free people of colour, and about 3000 slaves. 

 Besides mahogany and logwood, the country pro- 

 duces various other kinds or valuable trees, and the 

 soil is very fertile, adapted to sugar, coffee, indigo, 

 cotton, and all the West India productions. The 

 approach of the extensive coast which lies contiguous 

 to the bay of Honduras is at all times dangerous, 

 more especially so during the continuance of the 

 north winds. 



HONEY ; a vegetable product, very similar in its 

 properties to sugar. It is found, in large quantities, 

 in a number of vegetables, is collected by the bee, 

 and is fed upon by many insects. It is always formed 

 in the flower, chiefly at the base of the pistil, and it 

 seems designed to receive and retain the fecundating 

 pollen. Honey differs much in colour and in con- 

 sistence ; it contains much saccharine matter, and, 

 probably, some mucilage, from which it derives its 

 softness and viscosity. Honey very readily enters 

 into the vinous fermentation, and yields a strong 

 liquor, called mead. There are two species of honey ; 

 the one is yellow, transparent, and of the consistence 

 of turpentine ; the other white, and capable of assum- 

 ing a solid form, and of concreting into regular 

 spheres. These two species are often united ; they 

 may be separated by means of alcohol, which dis- 

 solves the liquid honey much more readily than the 

 solid. Honey has never been accurately analyzed, 

 but some late experiments go to prove it to be com- 

 posed of sugar, mucilage, and an acid. The honey 

 made in mountainous countries is more highly fla- 

 voured than that of low grounds. The honey made 

 in the spring is more esteemed than that gathered in 

 the summer ; that of the summer more than that of 

 'he autumn. There is also a preference given to 



that of young swarms. Yellow honey is obtained, 

 by jiressure, from all sorts of honeycombs, old as 

 well as new, and even from those whence the virgin 

 honey has been extracted. The combs are broken, 

 and heated, with a little water, in basins or pots', 

 being kept constantly stirring; they are then put 

 into Ibags of thin linen cloth, and these into a press, 

 to squeeze out the honey. The wax stays behind u 

 the bag, excepting some particles, which pas. 

 through with the honey. 



Honey is the production of most countries, yet 

 more abundant in the island of Candia, and in the 

 greater part of the islands of the Archipelago, than 

 any where else. The Sicilian honey seems to be 

 particularly high flavoured, and in some parts of the 

 island, even to surpass that of Minorca, which, no 

 doubt, is owing to the quantity of aromatic plants 

 with which that country is overspread. This honey 

 is gathered three times in the year, in July, August, 

 and October. It is found, by the peasants, in the 

 hollows of trees and rocks. The country of the 

 lesser Hybla is still, as formerly, the part of the 

 island that is most celebrated for this article. Con- 

 siderable quantities of honey are produced by the 

 wild bees, in the woods of North America. 



Honey is used in preserves and confectionery, and, 

 in its pure state, to put upon bread ; also as a demul- 

 cent medicine against hoarseness, catarrhs, &c., and 

 externally, as a softening application, to promote 

 suppuration. It is used, in its clarified state, to 

 sweeten certain medicines. It is more aperient and 

 detergent than sugar, and is particularly serviceable 

 in promoting expectoration in disorders of the breast, 

 and as an ingredient in cooling and detergent gar- 

 garisms. For these, and other similar purposes, it 

 is sometimes mixed with vinegar, in the proportion 

 of two pounds of clarified honey to one pint of the 

 acetic acid, boiled down to a proper consistence over 

 a slow fire, and thus forms the oxymel simple of the 

 shops. It is also impregnated with the virtues of 

 different vegetables, by boiling it in the same man- 

 ner, with their juice or infusions, till the watery parts 

 have exhaled. It is the basis of several compositions 

 in pharmacy, though in this way it is less used than 

 formerly. It is also used in making mead. When 

 collected from poisonous plants, as rhododendron 

 ponticum, &c., it partakes of the qualities of the 

 plants. The inferior qualities of honey, and what 

 remains when it is purified, can be used in the pre- 

 .paration of brandy, vinegar, &c. 



Honey, as may be easily imagined, was one of the 

 first articles of human nourishment. The gods of 

 Greece were imagined to live on milk and iioney 

 (ambrosia). Aristotle, Celsus, Pliny, ^Elian, and 

 probably the ancients in general, did not know 

 where honey originally came from ; they thought it 

 was a dew which fell from heaven. Pliny does not 

 decide whether it issued from the heavens in general 

 or from the stars, or was a juice produced by the 

 purification of the air, and which afterwards was col- 

 lected by the bees. The juice of the flowers, they 

 believed, produced only the wax. Hence w v e find 

 the honey flowing from the trees in great abundance, 

 in the descriptions which the poets give of the 

 golden age. In the Bible, we find mention made of 

 bees' honey, grape honey (must, boiled to a sirup, 

 and still used), and tree honey, which is found upon 

 the leaves of certain trees and shrubs, having been 

 thrown out by certain insects (aphis, L.) In all the 

 works on agriculture left by the ancients, we find 

 much importance attached to honey and the care of 

 bees. The ancients also ascribed medicinal powers 

 to honey. In their domestic concerns, they used 

 it as we do sugar, and made of it and good old 

 wine a mixture very much liked. This was dis- 





