HONEY

n. Hu3n'i2. A.-S., hunig. Sanscr., madhu. Guz., madha. Hind., sentoe. Chin., me. Ar., asla, ashama, nahal a. Pers., shadada. Saxon, medio, hunig. Gr., /ixeXi. Lat., mel. Fr., miel. Ger., Honig. It., miele. Sp., miel. 1. A saccharine secretion obtained by the wasp, the ant, and especially the bee, from the nectaries of flowers and deposited in the comb. When recently prepared, it is an amorphous substance of agreeable odor and very sweet taste, varying in color from white or yellowish-white to brown, and in consistence from a viscid liquid to a soft solid. It is readily soluble in water. In chemical structure it is a mixture of laevulose and glucose (dextrose 70 to 80 per cent.), with a varying proportion of water (20 to 30 per cent.) and traces of organic and mineral constituents. It is a detergent, pectoral, emollient, demulcent, laxative, and nutrient. Locally applied, it stimulates atonic mucous surfaces. A paste made of h. and flour is used to promote the maturation of absce es and buboes. As an emollient it is employed as a vehicle, as a gargle to cure aphthse, and as an application to the throat in various inflamed states, also as an application to sore nipples and to swollen mammce for checking the secretion of milk. New h. is regarded as a laxative and demulcent; old h. as an astringent and demulcent. In India it is used with Chuna as an external application to the temples in headache, to the abdomen or around the navel in colic, and to braises and sprains. [A, 479 (a, 21); B, 5, 17 (a, 24).] Cf. MEL. 2. A pharmaceutical preparation the basis of which is h. \T>, 6.] Cerate of h. with turpentine. A preparation made of 1 Ib. of common turpentine, the yolk of 20 eggs, and 1 Ib. of h beaten together. [L, 120.] Clarified h. See MEL despumatum. Clyster of h. of roses. See Enema mell is ROSARUM. Despumated h. See MEL despumatum.--Ethiopian h. A h.-like substance found in Ethiopia, in holes and cavities in the ground, and said to be the product or secretion of a gnat-like insect. A. Villiers found the composition of the substance to be as follows: Fermentable sugar (laevulose with J glucose, but no saccharose), 32 per cent.; mannite. 3 per cent.; dextrin, 27'9 per cent.; water. 25'5 per cent.; ash, 2'5 per cent.: other components and lo 9"! per cent. ["Proc. of the Am. Pharm. A oc.," xxvii (a, 14).] Heraclius's h. See MAI ON OMEN ON. H.-bag. The crop of the Apis mellific a where the nectar which is taken up by the proboscis undergoes a transformation into h. [L, 292 fa, 39) ] H.-balm. The Melittis meli ophyllum. [B. 275 (a, 24).] H.-blob. The fruit of Ribes gro ular i a. [A, 505 (a, 21).] H. comb. 1. The wax O, no; O, not; O3, whole; Th, thin; Th2, the; U, like oo in too; 239 [s. 355]