HONEY. 113 
together with the sugar accumulated in the ovaries, to 
nourish the seeds. 
252. The accumulations of sugar in the tissues, may 
exist, not only in the flower, but in different parts of plants, 
in the cotyledons, in the leaves, in the stipules, in the brac- 
teas, and between the leaves and twigs. They help the 
development of the tissues. 
Sometimes the nectariferous tissues are destitute of sto- 
mats or openings. Then the accumulated nectar may force 
itself through the cuticle or skin of the plant. 
The water of the sap, which runs incessantly in the plants, 
goes out through the different tissues in unequal quantities ; 
as some tissues are more porous than others. Generally, 
water escapes in the form of steam; but, in some circum- 
stances, when the air is moist, the water is emitted in liquid 
form, and may carry with it, to the outside, a part of the 
accumulations of sugar through which it has passed, thus 
producing honey-dew. The more sugar this water contains, 
the slower its evaporation will be. 
253. The dampness of the soil and of the air, and a 
temperature producing a profuse transpiration in plants, 
then a sudden stop of transpiration, are the best conditions 
to produce the maximum of nectar in the nectariferous tis- 
sues and of liquid exudations on the outside. 
254. Most of the above statements are taken, or rather 
abridged, from “Les Nectaires,’? of Gaston Bonnier, a 
professor at the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Paris (1879). 
This work was awarded a medal by the Academy of Science 
of Paris. Bonnier backs his statements with one hundred 
and thirty engravings made from microscopic researches. 
255. He explains, not only how the nectar is formed in 
the blossoms, but also how the extra floral nectar, the so- 
called honey-dew, is produced on different parts of plants, 
or trees. 
He has noticed and described the production of nectar 
8 
