The  Origin  and  Formation  of  Honey.  267 
u.  s.  p.,  1880. 
P.    759  gms.  Labarraque  =  16*9629 
Lost  in  lime  residue  =  473°9  2°'9 
"    by  evaporation  '                         =     '9462  4*1 
80  gms.  lime  contained     22*6400  
Chlorine  loss  during  entire  operation   25* 
O.    805  gms.  Labarraque  =  17*2403 
Lost  in  lime  residue  =  4*3102  19* 
"    by  evaporation  =.  1*0895  4*8 
80  gms.  lime  contained   .  22*6400  
Chlorine  loss  during  entire  operation    23*8 
Pharmaceutical  Laboratory, 
Cleveland  School  of  Pharmacy,  April,  1904. 
THE  ORIGIN  AND  FORMATION  OF  HONEY,  AND  ITS 
RELATION  TO  THE  POLARISCOPE. 
By  Wm.  A.  SELSER. 
The  origin  and  formation  of  honey  is  the  result  of  a  com- 
bination, and  a  combination  which  nothing  else  can  duplicate.  (1) 
The  nectar  from  the  plant  life.  (2)  The  action  of  the  bee  in  its  own 
body.    (3)  Its  deposition  and  evaporation. 
No  other  known  sweets  that  could  be  gathered  by  the  bee  would 
result  in  honey,  although  the  two  second  combinations  might  be 
present.  For  instance,  quite  a  lot  of  very  bad  adulteration  is  palmed 
off"  on  the  public  by  feeding  the  bees  a  dilution  of  cane  sugar.  Root 
(page  200,  of  the  1903  edition  of  the  Honey  Bee)  states  that  sugar 
syrup  fed  to  the  bees  might  be  chemically  a  sort  of  honey,  yet  be  a 
fraud  on  the  consumer.  I  am  glad  to  state  it  would  never  be  a  fraud 
on  the  chemist.  No  adulteration  would  be  easier  detected.  Then 
we  have  again,  for  the  first  combination,  the  honey  dew  produced  by 
the  excretion  of  a  plant  louse  sprayed,  as  it  were,  upon  the  leaves 
of  the  plant,  and  gathered  by  the  bees.  This  is  not  honey,  nor 
could  any  process  by  man  yet  discovered  take  the  first  combination, 
nectar  from  the  plant  life,  without  the  agency  of  the  bee  and  by  any 
chemical  manipulation  produce  honey.  We  have  a  very  pleasant 
sweet  produced  by  man  from  maple  nectar  boiled  down,  commonly 
known  as  maple  sugar. 
