HONEY LOCUST HONORIUS. 



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tribuled among the soldiers when they returned in 

 triumph. 



Honey-comb; a waxen structure, full of cells, 

 framed by the bees, to deposit their honey and eggs 

 in. The construction of the honeycomb seems one 

 of the most surprising parts of the works of insects ; 

 and the materials of which it is composed, which, 

 though evidently collected from the flowers of plants, 

 yet do not, that we know of, exist in them in that 

 form, have given great cause of speculation. The 

 wax is secreted, by the peculiar organization of the 

 insect, in the form of small and thin oval scales 

 in the incisures or folds of the abdomen. The 

 regular structure of the comb is also equally wonder- 

 ful. The comb is composed of a number of cells, 

 most of them exactly hexagonal, constructed with 

 geometrical accuracy, and arranged in two layers, 

 placed end to end, the openings of the different 

 layers being in opposite directions. The comb is 

 placed vertically ; the cells, therefore, are horizontal. 

 The distance of the different cakes of comb from 

 each other is sufficient for two bees to pass readily 

 between them, and they are here and there pierced 

 with passages affording a communication between 

 ;.ll parts of the hive. The construction of the cells 

 is such as to afford the greatest possible number in a 

 given space, with the least possible expenditure of 

 material. The base of each cell is composed of 

 three rhomboidal pieces, placed so as to form a 

 pyramidal concavity. Thus the base of a cell on 

 one side of the comb is composed of part of the 

 bases of three on the other. The angles of the base 

 are found, by the most accurate geometrical calcula- 

 tion, to be those by which the least possible expense 

 was required to produce a given degree of strength. 

 The sides of the cells are all much thinner than the 

 finest paper; and yet they are so strengthened by 

 their disposition, that they are able to resist all the 

 motions of the bee within them. The effect of their 

 thrusting their bodies into the cells would be the 

 bursting of those cells at the top, were not these 

 well guarded. But, to prevent this, the creatures 

 extend a cord, or roll of wax, round the verge of 

 every cell, in such a manner that it is scarce possible 

 they should split in that particular part. This cord, 

 or roll, is, at least, three times as thick as the sides 

 of the cell, and is even much thicker and stronger at 

 the angles of the cells than elsewhere, so that the 

 aperture of each cell is not regularly hexagonal* 

 though its inner cavity be perfectly so. The cells 

 which have served or are to serve for the habitation 

 of the worms of the common and of the male bees, 

 are often made also, at other times, the receptacles 

 of honey ; but, though these are indifferently made 

 to serve either use, there are others destined only to 

 receive honey. The celerity with which a swarm 

 of bees, received into a hive where they find them- 

 selves lodged to their minds, bring their works of 

 the comb to perfection, is amazing. There are vast 

 numbers at work all at once ; and, that they may not 

 incommode one another, they do not work upon the 

 first comb till it is finished, but, when the foundation 

 of that is laid, they go to work upon another, so that 

 there are often the beginnings of three or four stories 

 made at once, and so many divisions allotted to the 

 carrying on the work of each. 



HONEY LOCUST, SWEET LOCUST, or 

 BLACK LOCUST (gleditschia triacanthos.) This 

 lofty and beautiful tree seems to belong, properly, to 

 the region west of the Alleghany mountains, occur- 

 ring, however, within the valleys of those mountains ; 

 but on approaching the Atlantic coast, it entirely 

 disappears, except in the vicinity of habitations, 

 *iiere it is frequently planted for the sake of orna- 

 ment. It belongs to the natural family leguminosce. 



The leaves are pinnated, divided into numerous small 

 leaflets,which give a light and very elegant appearance 

 to the foliage ; the flowers are greenish and incon- 

 spicuous, and are succeeded by long, flat, pendulous, 

 and often twisted pods, containing the large brown 

 seeds, enveloped in a pulp, which, when arrived at 

 maturity, is extremely sweet. This tree is espe- 

 cially remarkable for its formidable branching thorns, 

 frequently growing to the length of several inches, 

 on which account it has been recommended for 

 hedges. The wood resembles that of the locust, but 

 is coarser grained, and, notwithstanding its exces- 

 sive hardness, when well seasoned, is but little es- 

 teemed. 



The G. monosperma, a tree inferior in dimensions 

 to the preceding, and distinguished by its pods, con 

 taining a single seed, inhabits also the Western 

 States, but it is a more southern plant, and reaches 

 the Atlantic in lower Carolina and Georgia. The 

 wood is inferior in quality. A third species (6'. 

 brachycarpa) inhabits the same countries with the 

 preceding. 



HONEYSUCKLE, or WOODBINE. Several 

 species of lonicera are cultivated for the beauty or 

 delightful fragrance of their flowers. They are 

 shrubby vines, with opposite simple leaves and long 

 tubular flowers, disposed in terminal heads, or whirls. 

 The L. caprifolium, a native of Europe, is a familiar 

 and favourite plant, especially remarkable for the 

 delicious perfume of its flowers, which are irregularly 

 divided, as in most of the genus. The coral honey- 

 suckle, a scarcely less familiar plant, inhabits the 

 southern parts of the United States and Mexico, 

 and differs from the preceding in its red flowers 

 being destitute of fragrance, and having the margin 

 of the corolla regularly and not deeply divided. It 

 was introduced into Europe in the year 1656, and is 

 now frequent there in gardens. Both these species, 

 as well as many others, are hardy plants and of easy 

 cultivation. Five other species inhabit the United 

 States, principally in the northern or mountainous 

 districts. The term honeysuckle is often improperly 

 applied to a kind of clover, as also, in America, to 

 some species of azalea. 



HONFLEUR ; an irregularly built and ill fortified 

 town of France, in the department of Calvados, on 

 the Seine, opposite to Havre de Grace. Thirty 

 miles N. E. Caen ; Ion. 14' 14" E. ; lat. 49 25' 

 13" N. It has a good harbour, and some maritime 

 trade. It has manufactures of lace, hardware, vitriol, 

 cordage, &c. Population, 9798. 



HONG MERCHANTS; a body of 8 to 12 

 Chinese merchants at Canton, who alone have the 

 privilege of trading with Europeans, and are responsi- 

 ble for the conduct of the Europeans with whom they 

 deal. 



HONORARIUM ; the pecuniary reward for 

 actions, services, or works whose value cannot, in 

 fact, be estimated in money (opera liber ales). 



HONORIUS ; the first Roman emperor of the 

 West ; son of Theodosius the Great. He succeeded 

 his father, with his brother Arcadius, A. D. 395. He 

 was neither bold nor vicious, but he was of a modest 

 and timid disposition, unfit for enterprise and fearful 

 of danger. He conquered his enemies by means of 

 his generals, and suffered himself and his people to be 

 governed by ministers who took advantage of their 

 imperial master's indolence and inactivity. He died 

 of a dropsy, in the thirty-ninth year of his age, A. D. 

 423. He left no issue, though he had married two 

 wives. Under him and his brother, the Roman 

 power was divided into two different empires. The 

 successors of Honorius, who fixed their residence at 

 Rome, were called the emperors of the West, and 

 the successors of Arcadius, who sat on the throne 

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