28 VEGETABLE DRUGS WITHOUT ORGANIC STRUCTURE. 



SACCHARUM LACTIS. LACTOSE. MILK SUGAR. 



A peculiar crystalline sugar, obtained from the whey 

 of cow's milk by evaporation, and purified by recrystal- 

 lization. Formula, C^^U^fi^^, HjO. 



White, hard, crystalline masses, four-sided, yielding 

 a white, gritty powder, odorless and with a slightly 

 sweet taste. Permanent in the air. Soluble in six parts 

 of cold water, and in one part of boiling water. Insoluble 

 in alcohol, in ether, or in chloroform. It gives up its 

 water of crystallization at 130° C. (266° F.) and melts 

 at 204° C. (398° F.). On boiling with dilute acid it 

 splits into dextrose and galactose. Caramel can also be 

 obtained from milk sugar. It reduces Fehling's solu- 

 tion slowly. 



Uses. — Chiefly as vehicle and for infants' feeding. 



MEL. HONEY. 



A saccharine secretion deposited in the honeycomb of 

 the bee. Apis mellifica, L. (Insecta). 



Honey is a syrupy liquid of a light yellow to pale 

 yellowish-brown color, translucent when fresh, but gradu- 

 ally becoming opaque and crystalline. It has an aro- 

 matic odor and a cloying sweet taste. Honey is faintly 

 acid to litmus paper. Specific gravity, 138 to 140. 



Honey consists of a mixture of glucose and levulose, 

 a little wax, mucilage, proteids, volatile oil, coloring- 

 matter, and slight ash. Microscopically it contains frag- 

 ments of portions of insect bodies and pollen grains. It 

 is widely manufactured from glucose. The manufactured 

 product, unless mixed with the native product, contains 

 no traces of insect fragments and no pollen grains. 



Uses. — Honey has a wide use as a food and as a de- 

 mulcent. It makes an excellent vehicle for adminis- 

 tering medicines to children. It is mildly laxative. 



