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 onlj' 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- 

 matiB 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 Uquid 

 form, and may carrj' 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 6cole Normale Superieure 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 Jioney-dew, is produced on different parts of plants, 

 or trees. 



He has noticed and described the production of nectar 

 8 



