BEES AS FERTILISERS. 291 



acquainted with the kalmia would be greatly interested 

 in liberating the anthers by means of a bristle. 



During the celebrated retreat of the Ten Thousand, 

 as recorded by Xenophon in his "Anabasis/' the 

 soldiers regaled themselves upon some honey which 

 they found near Trebizonde, where were many bee- 

 hives. Intoxication, with vomiting, was the result. 

 Some were so overcome, he states, as to be incapable 

 of standing. Not a soldier died, but very many were 

 greatly weakened for several days. Tournefort en- 

 deavoured to discover whether this account was 

 corroborated by anything ascertainable in the locality, 

 and had good reason to be satisfied respecting it. 

 He concluded that the honey had been gathered from 

 a shrub growing in the neighbourhood of Trebizonde, 

 which is there well known as producing the before- 

 mentioned effects. It is now agreed, that the plants 

 were species of rhododendrons and azaleas. Lam- 

 bert! confirms Xenophon's account, by stating that 

 similar effects are produced by the honey of Colchis, 

 where the same shrubs are common. In 1790, even, 

 fatal cases occurred in America, in consequence of 

 eating wild honey, which was traced to the Kalmia 

 latifolia by an inquiry instituted under the direction 

 of the American Government. Happily, our American 

 cousins are now never likely to thus suffer, thanks 

 to drainage, the plough, and the bee-farm. 



The beautiful purple heathers of our moorland and 

 semi-mountain scenery have often given inspiration 

 to the poet, and lovely indeed are the glowing tints 

 the countless bells impart to the landscape, as they 

 reflect the light of the setting sun; but while they 



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