478 
BEE BREAD AS A DIURETIC. 
Another question of importance also arises :—Would the manufacture of neroli in the- 
tropical countries pay ? This can only be answered by practical experience. In Java, 
where I made my experiments, the local circumstances are such that the manufacture 
would certainly pay. 
But besides the neroli obtained by distillation of the flowers, there remains in the still 
after the distillation a substance which deserves attention, if ever my plan of preparing 
neroli in the tropical colonies should be carried out. If the residue in the still is thrown, 
yet boiling, upon a cloth, the clear yellowish liquid which passes through the cloth 
deposits after a few days a large amount of yellow crystals. My experiments with 
these cystals have proved that they are identical with the substance discovered, in 1828, 
by Lebreton, in unripe bitter oranges, and called by him “ hesperidine.” This hesperi- 
dine, which I find very widely spread in the genus Citrus, is the pure bitter substance 
contained also in orange-peels. As this hesperidine is a pure and quite innocent bitter 
substance, which can be obtained easily, and in tolerably large quantities, from shad¬ 
dock flowers, it deserves, perhaps, attention as a substitute for hops. 
NEW SOURCE OF BISMUT 
The supply of bismuth has never been an abundant one, and latterly it has not been 
equal to the demand, so that any new applications of the metal, of which several might 
be suggested, have been limited by this cause. It appears, however, that an increased 
supply may now be expected. In"the ‘ South Australian Register,’ of the 27th of Sep¬ 
tember, it is stated that a bismuth mine has been discovered, Spencer’s Gulf, in that 
colony, which is being vigorously worked, and is likely to prove valuable. 
PROHIBITION OF THE USE OF GUN COTTON FOR ARTILLERY BY 
THE AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT. 
It appears that the Austrian Government, by whom Gun Cotton was first effectively 
introduced in the army, have recently prohibited its further use by the artillery and 
corps of engineers. It is stated that a large number of guns that had been made for 
use with gun cotton have been ordered to be recast. 
BEE BREAD AS A DIURETIC. 
Dr. Jas. S. Whitmire states (the ‘ Chicago Medical Examiner,’ September, 1865) that 
he has found the bee bread to be a most powerful diuretic. He made the discovery 
accidentally. Having bought a quantity of honey in the comb, he feasted liberally on 
it with his family for four or five weeks, and noticed that his secretion of urine was 
largely increased. Fearing that his kidneys were diseased, he examined for albumen 
without finding any, and afterwards for sugar by the taste, when the taste of bee bread 
was detected, and its odour yvas also distinct. He then learned that his family was 
similarly affected. 
To verify his suspicion as to the cause of his increased urinary secretion, he selected,, 
he says, “some of the oldest comb that contained the greatest quantity of the bread, and 
separated it from the honey and comb ; then, after abstaining a week from the use of 
my favourite sweet, and getting quite over my renal disease, as well as my unnecessary 
alarm, I partook of the bread, without the luxury of the honey, to the extent of 5j three 
times per day, when, as I was expecting, back came the enormous secretion, but this 
time producing an entirely different effect upon my mind, so that I was now prepared to 
investigate the effects a little more at length. I continued taking jiij per day, for about 
a week, during which time I voided from four to six fluid pounds per day, the difference 
being the greatest when I was at some out-door exercise. When I remained quiet , in 
my warm office, there was from a pound to a pound and a half less secretion than when 
exercising. I also repeated the same experiment on my children, and found, to my 
