146 Composition of Honey. 



The first would be fully ripe, the last hardly the product we 

 should like to market. 



The reducing sugars — so called because they can reduce 

 the sulphate of copper when made strongly alkaline by the 

 addition of caustic potash or soda — include all sugars but 

 sucrose or cane sugar; and consist mainly of dextrose, 

 which turns the ray of polarization to the right, and laev- 

 ulose, which turns the ray to the left. Dextrose and 

 Isevulose are both products of various fruits, as well as 

 honey. Dextrose and laevulose are also called invert 

 sugars; because, when cane sugar is heated with a mineral 

 acid, like hydrochloric acid, it changes from cane sugar, 

 which revolves the polarized ray to the right, to dextrose 

 and laevulose; but the latter is most effective, so now the 

 ray turns to the left, hence the terms inversion, or invert 

 sugar. Glucose is a term which refers to both dextrose 

 and laevulose, and is exactly synonymous with grape sugar. 

 The amount of reducing sugars varies largely, as shown 

 by numerous analyses, usually from sixty-five to seventy- 

 five per cent; though a few anahses of what it would seem 

 must have been pure honeys, have shown less than sixty 

 per cent. But in such cases there was an excess of cane 

 sugar. It seems not improbable that in such cases honey 

 was gathered very rapidly and the bees not having far to 

 fly did not fully digest the cane sugar of the nectar. Dr. 

 J. Campbell Brown in a paper before the British Associa- 

 tion, gave as an average of several analyses seventy-three 

 per cent, of invert or reducing sugars; thirty-six and forty- 

 five hundredths per cent, was laevulose and thirty-six and 

 fifty-seven hundredths per cent, was dextrose. Almost 

 always pure honey gives a left rotation of from two to 

 twelve degrees. This wide variation is suggestive. Does 

 it not show that very likely the honey from certain flowers, 

 though pure honey, may give a right handed rotation with 

 a large angle because of a large amount of dextrose and 

 little lasvulose. It occurs to me that these two uncertain 

 factors, incomplete digestion and the possible variation in 

 nectar, make determination by the analyst either by use of 

 the polariscope or chemical reagents a matter of doubt. I 

 speak with more confidence as our National Chemist pro- 



