Effect of Honey on the Human System. 
The masses do not realize the value of honey from a hygienic 
stand-point, else it would have more than kept pace with sugar as 
an article of human consumption. 
Dr. Vance makes such very excellent remarks on this subject that 
we can do no better than to give them entire; ‘ Honey is a physio- 
logical sweet ; in other words, its constituents are such that it is 
absorbed into the blood without undergoing chemical change. Such 
is not the fact with regard to sugar. Sugar is indigestible, or rather 
not as susceptible of absorption and assimilation as honey, but it 
requires the action of the gastric juice to split or invert its elements, 
the muriatic acid element of the gastric juice being the chief agent 
in this chemical transportation. This change produces what is 
termed in chemistry dextrose and levulose. I presume this explana- 
tion does not convey a very clear or definite idea of the nature of 
these products, for the names applied only indicate how they affect 
larized light. After this change occurs, absorption takes place. 
in any way it is hindered, or, on account of an excess of sugar 
above the capacity of the gastric juice to transform, there remains 
a residue, the result is decomposition into elements that irritate and 
inflame the mucus membrane of the intestinal canal, producing a list 
of ailments too numerous to mention here. Think of the legions of 
little ones who have been the victims of their universal fondness 
for sweets, and who so frequently suffer from the gastric troubles 
which are, in a large degree, the result of sugar indigestion. How 
many, many children have perished from eating candy ! 
“The importance of sugar as an element of food may be inferred 
from the large proportion of the elements of our food which. is 
transformed by the action of the digestive organs, into the con- 
stituents of sugar. Consider the proportions of bread, potatoes and 
vegetables that we consume daily, all of which must undergo this 
saccharine change before they are suitable to be appropriated by the 
human system ; it may give an approximate idea of the amount of 
these elements that are required to nouris’ our bodies. 
“Tf, therefore, the saccharine comprises so large a part of the 
elements of our food, does it not become an important question as to 
what form of sweet is the most appropriate and_healthful for the 
nutrition of the human body? For the reasons I shall hereafter 
enumerate, it seems to me that you will agree with me that honey is 
the most important and the’ most healthful, because it is absorbed 
into the system without change, and, because, unlike sugars, it does 
not easily undergo fermentation. The formic acid which is an 
ingredient of honey, prevents chemical change and the morbid 
processes arising from decomposition of sugar. 
“Let me repeat the points of difference in ordinary sugars and 
syrups, and their comparative inferiority to honey as a saccharine 
food: Honey is an inverted sugar consisting of levulose (fruit- 
sugar) and dextrose (starch-sugar) and readily absorbed into the 
system without being acted upon by the gastric juice, converting, 
as itis expressed in chemical language, inverting it into dextrose 
and levulose, before it is susceptible of absorption and assimilation 
in the blood. When thus acted upon by the digestive organs, it is 
assimilable, but in case of weakness of digestion, this action does not 
occur, and decomposition is sure to follow. Honey is not only a 
delicious form of sweet, but is a very healthful and nutritious form 
of food. It aids the natural functions of the alimentary canal. It is 
recommended by those who have thus used it, as a refreshing drink, 
diluted with water in the proportion of from 2 to 5 per cent.”’ 
Pure honey should always be freely used in every family—Honey 
eaten upon wheat bread is very beneficial to health, 
