530 
ON  HONEY,  ITS  FORMATION  AND  CHANGES. 
all  these  are  derived  from  the  decomposition  of  cane  sugar,  or 
sucrose  (C12H22On). 
Sucrose,  when  pure,  forms  very  fine,  large,  oblique,  rhombic 
prisms,  and  crystallizes  in  masses,  as  well  seen  in  sugar  candy. 
When  the  crystals  are  small,  as  for  microscopic  observation,  they 
generally  crystallize  on  their  sides,  when  they  appear  as  if  the 
ends  were  truncated,  and  the  edges  at  right  angles  to  each  other. 
This  is  simply  owing  to  their  position.  A  solution  of  sucrose 
always  turns  a  ray  of  polarized  light  from  left  to  right,  and  is 
therefore  commonly  called  right-handed  sugar.  When  acted 
upon  by  nitrogenous  matter,  as  that  in  fresh  honey,  this  crystal- 
lizable  sucrose  becomes  partly  changed  into  uncrystaliizable 
sugar,  or  inverted  sugar,  because  it  turns  a  polarized  ray  of  light 
from  right  to  left. 
Freshly  gathered  honey  contains  both  of  these,  mixed  with  a 
third  kind  of  sugar,  especially  when  kept  for  a  few  weeks, — viz., 
glucose  (C12H24012)  or  grape  sugar. 
Glucose  is  a  crystalline  substance,  possessing  about  one-fourth 
the  sweetening  power  of  sucrose.  It  crystallizes  in  small  tufts 
of  thin  prisms,  pointed  at  both  ends.  The  crystals,  when  formed 
for  the  microscope,  always  have  pointed  ends,  instead  of  the 
square  ones  before  mentioned,  and  owe  this  peculiarity  simply  to 
position  also.  This  property  is  of  great  assistance  to  the  micro- 
chemist  when  examining  saccharine  substances. 
We  will  now  pass  on  to  the  formation  of  honey  as  found  in  a 
newly-made  comb.  On  examining  the  disk  of  many  flowers,  a 
number  of  glandular  or  scale-like  bodies  may  be  seen,  abounding 
in  a  sweet  liquid  when  the  flower  is  at  its  height  of  beauty. 
Many  plants,  as  the  Ranunculus  and  FritiEaria,  have  a  small 
glandular  cavity  at  the  base  of  the  petals,  filled  with  the  same 
fluid,  but  not  so  plentifully  as  those  on  the  disk.  This  fluid  is 
commonly  termed  nectar,  and  therefore,  in  the  older  botanical 
works,  the  part  of  the  flower  supplying  it  was  termed  the  nectary. 
This  sweet  fluid  is  a  true  sugar-syrup,  eliminated  from  the  amy- 
laceous sap  of  the  plant,  and  its  office  is  probably  to  afford 
nourishment  to  the  stamens  and  pistil.  The  so-called  nectary 
serves  the  purpose  of  a  reservoir  for  the  superabundant  fluid, 
and  excites  the  instinct  of  the  bees. 
