THE HONEY BEE. 
123 
Wax . — W ax is a vegetable product, deriving its ori- 
gin from the saccharine principle existing abundantly 
“ The honev-dew was noticed by the ancients, and is men- 
tioned by Pliny by the fanciful designation of ‘ the sweats of 
the heavens,’ and ‘ the saliva of the stars,’ though he question- 
ed whether it is not a deposition from the air, purging this 
from some contracted impurity. More modem philosophers 
have been quite as erroneous and discordant in their opinions 
relative to its nature. Some, with the most unmitigable aspe- 
rity, declare that it is the excrement of aphides ; others as ex- 
clusively maintain that it is an atmospheric deposite ; and a 
third party consider that it arises from bleeding consequent to 
the wounds of insects. That there may be a glutinous sac- 
charine liquid found upon the leaves of plants, arising from 
the first and third named causes, is probable, or rather cer- 
tain ; but this is by no means conclusive that there is not a 
similar liquid extravasated npon the surface of the leaves, ow- 
ing to some unhealthy action of their vessels. It is with this 
description of honey-dew that we are here coucerned. The 
error into which writers on this subject appear to have fallen, 
consists in their having endeavoured to assign the origin of 
every kind of honey-dew to the same cause.” After noticing 
the theories of White and Curtis, the writer goes on to snv, 
“ The various successful application of liquids to plants, in 
order to prevent the occurrence of honey-dew, and similar dis- 
eases, would seem to indicate that a morbid state of the sap is 
the chief cause of the honev-dew : for otherwise it would bo 
difficult to explain the reason why the use of a solution of 
common salt in water, applied to the soil in which a plant is 
growing, can prevent the appearance of a disease caused by 
insects. But if we admit that the irregular action of the sap 
is the cause of the disorder, then we can understand that a 
portion of salt, introduced into the juices of the plant, would 
naturally have a tendency to correct or vary any morbid tend- 
ency, either correcting the too rapid secretion of sap, stimu- 
lating it in promoting its regular formation, or preserving its 
