Chapter VI: Part 6

Honey contains dextroglucose and laevoglucose (the former practically insoluble, the latter soluble in 1/8 pt. of cold strong alcohol), cane-sugar (according to some), mucilage, water, wax, essential oil, colouring bodies, a minute quantity of mineral matter and pollen. By a species of fermentation, the cane-sugar is said to be gradually transformed into inverted sugar (laevoglucose with dextroglucose). The pollen, as a source of nitrogen, is of importance to the bees feeding on the honey. It may be obtained for examination as a sediment from a mixture of honey and water. Other substances which have been discovered in honey are mannite (Guibourt), a free acid which precipitates the salts of silver and of lead, and is soluble in water and alcohol (Calloux), and an uncrystallizable sugar, nearly related to inverted sugar (Soubeiran, _Compt. Rend._ xxviii. 774-775, 1849). Brittany honey contains couvain, a ferment which determines its active decomposition (Wurtz, _Dict. de Chem._ ii. 430). In the honey of _Polybia apicipennis_, a wasp of tropical America, cane-sugar occurs in crystals of large size (Karsten, _Pogg. Ann._, C. 550). Dr J. Campbell Brown ("On the Composition of Honey," _Analyst_ iii. 267, 1878) is doubtful as to the presence of cane-sugar in any one of nine samples, from various sources, examined by him. The following average percentage numbers are afforded by his analyses: laevulose, 36.45; dextrose, 36.57; mineral matter, .15; water expelled at 100 deg. C., 18.5, and at a much higher temperature, with loss, 7.81: the wax, pollen and insoluble matter vary from a trace to 2.1%. The specific gravity of honey is about 1.41. The rotation of a polarized ray by a solution of 16.26 grammes of crude honey in 100 c.c. of water is generally from -3.2 deg. to -5 deg. at 60 deg. F.; in the case of Greek honey it is nearly -5.5 deg. Almost all pure honey, when exposed for some time to light and cold, becomes more or less granular in consistency. Any liquid portion can be readily separated by straining through linen. Honey sold out of the comb is commonly clarified by heating and skimmimg; but according to Bonner it is always best in its natural state. The _mel depuratum_ of British pharmacy is prepared by heating honey in a water-bath, and straining through flannel previously moistened with warm water.

The term "virgin-honey" (A.-S., _hunigtear_) is applied to the honey of young bees which have never swarmed, or to that which flows spontaneously from honeycomb with or without the application of heat. The honey obtained from old hives, considered inferior to it in quality, is ordinarily darker, thicker and less pleasant in taste and odour. The yield of honey is less in proportion to weight in old than in young or virgin combs. The far-famed honey of Narbonne is white, very granular and highly aromatic; and still finer honey is that procured from the Corbieres Mountains, 6 to 9 m. to the south-west. The honey of Gatinais is usually white, and is less odorous and granulates less readily than that of Narbonne. Honey from white clover has a greenish-white, and that from heather a rich golden-yellow hue. What is made from honey-dew is dark in colour, and disagreeable to the palate, and does not candy like good honey. "We have seen aphide honey from sycamores," says F. Cheshire (_Pract. Bee-keeping_, p. 74), "as deep in tone as walnut liquor, and where much of it is stored the value of the whole crop is practically nil." The honey of the stingless bees (_Meliponia_ and _Trigona_) of Brazil varies greatly in quality according to the species of flowers from which it is collected, some kinds being black and sour, and others excellent (F. Smith, _Trans. Ent. Soc._, 3d ser., i. pt. vi., 1863). That of _Apis Peronii_, of India and Timor, is yellow, and of very agreeable flavour and is more liquid than the British sorts. _A. unicolor_, a bee indigenous to Madagascar, and naturalized in Mauritius and the island of Reunion, furnishes a thick and syrupy, peculiarly scented green honey, highly esteemed in Western India. A rose-coloured honey is stated (_Gard. Chron._, 1870, p. 1698) to have been procured by artificial feeding. The fine aroma of Maltese honey is due to its collection from orange blossoms. Narbonne honey being harvested chiefly from Labiate plants, as rosemary, an imitation of it is sometimes prepared by flavouring ordinary honey with infusion of rosemary flowers.

Adulterations of honey are starch, detectable by the microscope, and
by its blue reaction with iodine, also wheaten flour, gelatin, chalk,
gypsum, pipe-clay, added water, cane-sugar and common syrup, and the
different varieties of manufactured glucose. Honey sophisticated with
glucose containing copperas as an impurity is turned of an inky colour
by liquids containing tannin, as tea. Elm leaves have been used in
America for the flavouring of imitation honey. Stone jars should be
employed in preference to common earthenware for the storage of honey,
which acts upon the lead glaze of the latter.

Honey is mildly laxative in properties. Some few kinds are poisonous, as frequently the reddish honey stored by the Brazilian wasp _Nectarina_ (_Polistes_, Latr.[5]) _Lecheguana_, Shuck., the effects of which have been vividly described by Aug. de Saint-Hilaire,[6] the spring honey of the wild bees of East Nepaul, said to be rendered noxious by collection from rhododendron flowers (Hooker, _Himalayan Journals_, i. 190, ed. 1855), and the honey of Trebizond, which from its source, the blossoms, it is stated, of _Azalea pontica_ and _Rhododendron ponticum_ (perhaps to be identified with Pliny's _Aegolethron_), acquires the qualities of an irritant and intoxicant narcotic, as described by Xenophon (_Anab._ iv. 8). Pliny (_Nat. Hist._ xxi. 45) describes as noxious a livid-coloured honey found in Persia and Gaetulia. Honey obtained from _Kalmia latifolia_, L., the calico bush, mountain laurel or spoon-wood of the northern United States, and allied species, is reputed deleterious; also that of the sour-wood is by some good authorities considered to possess undeniable griping properties; and G. Bidie (_Madras Quart. Journ. Med. Sci._, Oct, 1861, p. 399) mentions urtication, headache, extreme prostration and nausea, and intense thirst among the symptoms produced by a small quantity only of a honey from Coorg jungle. A South African species of _Euphorbia_, as was experienced by the missionary Moffat (_Miss. Lab._ p. 32, 1849), yields a poisonous honey. The nectar of certain flowers is asserted to cause even in bees a fatal kind of vertigo. As a demulcent and flavouring agent, honey is employed in the _oxymel_, _oxymel scillae_, _mel boracis_, _confectio piperis_, _conf. scammonii_ and _conf. terebinthinae_ of the _British Pharmacopoeia_. To the ancients honey was of very great importance as an article of diet, being almost their only available source of sugar. It was valued by them also for its medicinal virtues; and in recipes of the Saxon and later periods it is a common ingredient.[7] Of the eight kinds of honey mentioned by the great Indian surgical writer Susruta, four are not described by recent authors, viz. _argha_ or wild honey, collected by a sort of yellow bee; _chhatra_, made by tawny or yellow wasps; _audalaka_, a bitter and acrid honey-like substance found in the nest of white ants; and _dala_ or unprepared honey occurring on flowers. According to Hindu medical writers, honey when new is laxative, and when more than a year old astringent (U. C. Dutt, _Mat. Med. of the Hindus_, p. 277, 1877). Ceromel, formed by mixing at a gentle heat one part by weight of yellow wax with four of clarified honey, and straining, is used in India and other tropical countries as a mild stimulant for ulcers in the place of animal fats, which there rapidly become rancid and unfit for medicinal purposes. The _Koran_, in the chapter entitled "The Bee," remarks with reference to bees and their honey: "There proceedeth from their bellies a liquor of various colour, wherein is a medicine for men" (Sale's _Koran_, chap. xvi.). Pills prepared with honey as an excipient are said to remain unindurated, however long they may be kept (_Med. Times_, 1857, i. 269). Mead, of yore a favourite beverage in England (vol. iv. p. 264), is made by fermentation of the liquor obtained by boiling in water combs from which the honey has been drained. In the preparation of sack-mead, an ounce of hops is added to each gallon of the liquor, and after the fermentation a small quantity of brandy. Metheglin, or hydromel, is maufactured by fermenting with yeast a solution of honey flavoured with boiled hops (see Cooley, _Cyclop._). A kind of mead is largely consumed in Abyssinia (vol. i. p. 64), where it is carried on journeys in large horns (Stern, _Wanderings_, p. 317, 1862). In Russia a drink termed _lipez_ is made from the delicious honey of the linden. The _mulsum_ of the ancient Romans consisted of honey, wine and water boiled together. The _clarre_, or _piment_, of Chaucer's time was wine mixed with honey and spices, and strained till clear; a similar drink was _bracket_, made with wort of ale instead of wine. L. Maurial (_L'Insectologie Agricole_ for 1868, p. 206) reports unfavourably as to the use of honey for the production of alcohol; he recommends it, however, as superior to sugar for the thickening of liqueurs, and also as a means of sweetening imperfectly ripened vintages. It is occasionally employed for giving strength and flavour to ale. In ancient Egypt it was valued as an embalming material; and in the East, for the preservation of fruit, and the making of cakes, sweetmeats, and other articles of food, it is largely consumed. Grafts, seeds and birds' eggs, for transmission to great distances, are sometimes packed in honey. In India a mixture of honey and milk, or of equal parts of curds, honey and clarified butter (Sansk., _madhu-parka_), is a respectful offering to a guest, or to a bridegroom on his arrival at the door of the bride's father; and one of the purificatory ceremonies of the Hindus (Sansk., _madhu-prasana_) is the placing of a little honey in the mouth of a newborn male infant. Honey is frequently alluded to by the writers of antiquity as food for children; it is not to this, however, as already mentioned, that Isa. vii. 15 refers. Cream or fresh butter together with honey, and with or without bread, is a favourite dish with the Arabs.

Among the observances at the Fandroana or New Year's Festival, in Madagascar, is the eating of mingled rice and honey by the queen and her guests; in the same country honey is placed in the sacred water of sprinkling used at the blessing of the children previous to circumcision (Sibree, _The Great African Is._ pp. 219, 314, 1880). Honey was frequently employed in the ancient religious ceremonies of the heathen, but was forbidden as a sacrifice in the Jewish ritual (Lev. ii. 11). With milk or water it was presented by the Greeks as a libation to the dead (_Odyss._ xi. 27; Eurip. _Orest._ 115). A honey-cake was the monthly food of the fabled serpent-guardian of the Acropolis (Herod, viii. 41). By the aborigines of Peru honey was offered to the sun.

The Hebrew word translated "honey" in the authorized version of the
English Bible is _debash_, practically synonymous with which are
_ja'ar_ or _ja'arith had-debash_ (1 Sam. xix. 25-27; cf. Cant. v. 1)
and nopheth (Ps. xix. 10, &c.), rendered "honey-comb." _Debash_
denotes bee-honey (as in Deut. xxxii. 13 and Jud. xiv. 8); the manna
of trees, by some writers considered to have been the "wild honey"
eaten by John the Baptist (Matt. iii. 4); the syrup of dates or the
fruits themselves; and probably in some passages (as Gen. xliii. 11
and Ez. xxvii. 17) the syrupy boiled juice of the grape, resembling
thin molasses, in use in Palestine, especially at Hebron, under the
name of _dibs_ (see Kitto, _Cyclop._, and E. Robinson, _Bibl. Res._
ii. 81). Josephus (B.J., iv. 8, 3) speaks highly of a honey produced
at Jericho, consisting of the expressed juice of the fruit of palm
trees; and Herodotus (iv. 194) mentions a similar preparation made by
the Gyzantians in North Africa, where it is still in use. The honey
most esteemed by the ancients was that of Mount Hybla in Sicily, and
of Mount Hymettus in Attica (iii. 59). Mahaffy (_Rambles in Greece_,
p. 148, 2nd ed., 1878) describes the honey of Hymettus as by no means
so good as the produce of other parts of Greece--not to say of the
heather hills of Scotland and Ireland. That of Thebes, and more
especially that of Corinth, which is made in the thymy hills towards
Cleonae, he found much better (cf. xi. 88). Honey and wax, still
largely obtained in Corsica (vi. 440), were in olden times the chief
productions of the island. In England, in the 13th and 14th centuries,
honey sold at from about 7d. to 1s. 2d. a gallon, and occasionally was
disposed of by the swarm or hive, or _ruscha_ (Rogers, _Hist. of
Agric. and Prices in Eng._, 1. 418). At Wrexham, Denbigh, Wales, two
honey fairs are annually held, one on the Thursday next after the 1st
of September, and the other--the more recently instituted and by far
the larger--on the Thursday following the first Wednesday in October.
In Hungary the amounts of honey and of wax are in favourable years
respectively about 190,000 and 12,000 cwt., and in unfavourable years,
as, e.g. 1874, about 12,000 and 3000 cwt. The hives there in 1870
numbered 617,407 (or 40 per 1000 of the population, against 45 in
Austria). Of these 365,711 were in Hungary Proper, and 91,348 (87 per
1000 persons) in the Military Frontier (Keleti, _Ubersicht der Bevolk.
Ungarns_, 1871; Schwicker, _Statistik d. K. Ungarn_, 1877). In Poland
the system of bee-keeping introduced by Dolinowski has been found to
afford an average of 40 lb. of honey and wax and two new swarms per
hive, the common peasant's hive yielding, with two swarms, only 3 lb.
of honey and wax. In forests and places remote from villages in
Podolia and parts of Volhynia, as many as 1000 hives may be seen in
one apiary. In the district of Ostrolenka, in the government of Plock,
and in the woody region of Polesia, in Lithuania, a method is
practised of rearing bees in excavated trunks of trees (Stanton, "On
the Treatment of Bees in Poland," _Technologist_, vi. 45, 1866). When,
in August, in the loftier valleys of Bormio, Italy, flowering ceases,
the bees in their wooden hives are by means of spring-carts
transported at night to lower regions, where they obtain from the
buckwheat crops the inferior honey which serves them for winter
consumption (Ib. p. 38).

In Palestine, "the land flowing with milk and honey"[8] (Ex. iii. 17;
Numb. xiii. 27), wild bees are very numerous, especially in the
wilderness of Judaea, and the selling of their produce, obtained from
crevices in rocks, hollows in trees and elsewhere, is with many of the
inhabitants a means of subsistence. Commenting on 1 Sam. xiv. 26, J.
Roberts (_Oriental Illust._) remarks that in the East "the forests
literally flow with honey; large combs may be seen hanging on the
trees, as you pass along, full of honey." In Galilee, and at Bethlehem
and other places in Palestine, bee-keeping is extensively carried on.
The hives are sun-burnt tubes of mud, about 4 ft. in length and 8 in.
in diameter, and, with the exception of a small central aperture for
the passage of the bees, closed at each end with mud. These are laid
together in long rows, or piled pyramidally, and are protected from
the sun by a covering of mud and of boughs. The honey is extracted,
when the ends have been removed, by means of an iron hook. (See
Tristram, _Nat. Hist. of the Bible_, pp. 322 sqq., 2nd ed., 1868).
Apiculture in Turkey is in a very rude condition. The Bali-dagh, or
"Honey Mount," in the plain of Troy, is so called on account of the
numerous wild bees tenanting the caves in its precipitous rocks to the
south. In various regions of Africa, as on the west, near the Gambia,
bees abound. Cameron was informed by his guides that the large
quantities of honey at the cliffs by the river Makanyazi were under
the protection of an evil spirit, and not one of his men could be
persuaded to gather any (_Across Africa_, i. 266). On the precipitous
slopes of the Teesta valley, in India, the procuring of honey from the
pendulous bees'-nests, which are sometimes large enough to be
conspicuous features at a mile's distance, is the only means by which
the idle poor raise their annual rent (Hooker, _Him. Journ._ ii. 41).

To reach the large combs of _Apis dorsata_ and _A. testacea_, the
natives of Timor, by whom both the honey and young bees are esteemed
delicacies, ascend the trunks of lofty forest trees by the use of a
loop of creeper. Protected from the myriads of angry insects by a
small torch only, they detach the combs from the under surface of the
branches, and lower them by slender cords to the ground (Wallace,
_Journ. Linn. Soc., Zool._, vol. xi.). (F. H. B.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The term honey in its various forms is peculiar to the Teutonic
group of languages, and in the Gothic New Testament is wanting, the
Greek word being there translated _melith_.

[2] See A. White, in _Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist._ vii. 315, pl. 4.

[3] Wetherill (_Chem. Gaz._ xi. 72, 1853) calculates that the average
weight of the honey is 8.2 times that of the body of the ant, or
0.3942 grammes.

[4] Compare Isa. vii. 15, 22, where curdled milk (A.V. "butter") and
honey as exclusive articles of diet are indicative of foreign
invasion, which turns rich agricultural districts into pasture lands
or uncultivated wastes.

[5] _Memoires du Museum_, xi. 313 (1824).

[6] _Ib._ xii. 293, pl. xii. fig. B (1825). The honey, according to
Lassaigne (_ib._ ix. 319), is almost entirely soluble in alcohol.

[7] For a list of fifteen treatises concerning honey, dating from
1625 to 1868, see Waring, _Bibl. Therap._ ii. 559, New Syd. Soc.
(1879). On sundry ancient uses for honey, see Beckmann, _Hist. of
Invent._ i. 287 (1846).

[8] In Sanskrit, _madhu-kulya_, a stream of honey, is sometimes used
to express an overflowing abundance of good things (Monier Williams,
_Sansk.-Eng. Dict._, p. 736, 1872).

HONEYCOMB, a cloth, so called because of the particular arrangement of the crossing of the warp and weft threads which form cells somewhat similar to those of the real honeycomb. They differ from the latter in that they are rectangular instead of hexagonal. The bottom of the cell is formed by those threads and picks which weave "plain," while the ascending sides of the figure are formed by the gradually increasing length of float of the warp and weft yarns.

The figure shows two of the commonest designs which are used for these
cloths, design A being what is often termed the "perfect honeycomb";
in the figure it will be seen that the highest number of successive
white squares is seven, while the corresponding highest number of
successive black squares is five. Two of each of these maximum floats
form the top or highest edges of the cell, and the number of
successive like squares decreases as the bottom of the cell is reached
when the floats are one of black and one of white (see middle of
design, &c.). The weave produces a reversible cloth, and it is
extensively used for the embellishment of quilts and other fancy
goods. It is also largely used in the manufacture of cotton and linen
towels. B is, for certain purposes, a more suitable weave than A, but
both are very largely used for the latter class of goods.

HONEY-EATER, or HONEY-SUCKER, names applied by many writers in a very loose way to a large number of birds, some of which, perhaps, have no intimate affinity; here they are used in a more restricted sense for what, in the opinion of a good many recent authorities,[1] should really be deemed the family _Meliphagidae_--excluding therefrom the _Nectariniidae_ or SUN-BIRDS (q.v.) as well as the genera _Promerops_ and _Zosterops_ with whatever allies they may possess. Even with this restriction, the extent of the family must be regarded as very indefinite, owing to the absence of materials sufficient for arriving at a satisfactory conclusion, though the existence of such a family is probably indisputable. Making allowance, then, for the imperfect light in which they must at present be viewed, what are here called _Meliphagidae_ include some of the most characteristic forms of the ornithology of the great Australian region--members of the family inhabiting almost every part of it, and a single species only, _Ptilotis limbata_, being said to occur outside its limits. They all possess, or are supposed to possess, a long protrusible tongue with a brush-like tip, differing, it is believed, in structure from that found in any other bird--_Promerops_ perhaps excepted--and capable of being formed into a suctorial tube, by means of which honey is absorbed from the nectary of flowers, though it would seem that insects attracted by the honey furnish the chief nourishment of many species, while others undoubtedly feed to a greater or less extent on fruits. The _Meliphagidae_, as now considered, are for the most part small birds, never exceeding the size of a missel thrush; and they have been divided into more than 20 genera, containing above 200 species, of which only a few can here be particularized. Most of these species have a very confined range, being found perhaps only on a single island or group of islands in the region, but there are a few which are more widely distributed--such as _Glycyphila rufifrons_, the white-throated[2] honey-eater, found over the greater part of Australia and Tasmania. In plumage they vary much. Most of the species of _Ptilotis_ are characterized by a tuft of white, or in others of yellow, feathers springing from behind the ear. In the greater number of the genus _Myzomela_[3] the males are recognizable by a gorgeous display of crimson or scarlet, which has caused one species, _M. sanguinolenta_, to be known as the soldier-bird to Australian colonists; but in others no brilliant colour appears, and those of several genera have no special ornamentation, while some have a particularly plain appearance. One of the most curious forms is _Prosthemadera_--the tui or parson-bird of New Zealand, so called from the two tufts of white feathers which hang beneath its chin in great contrast to its dark silky plumage, and suggest a likeness to the bands worn by ministers of several religious denominations when officiating.[4] The bell-bird of the same island, _Anthornis melanura_--whose melody excited the admiration of Cook the morning after he had anchored in Queen Charlotte's Sound--is another member of this family, and unfortunately seems to be fast becoming extinct. But it would be impossible here to enter much further into detail, though the wattle-birds, _Anthochaera_, of Australia have at least to be named. Mention, however, must be made of the friar-birds, _Tropidorhynchus_, of which nearly a score of species, five of them belonging to Australia, have been described. With their stout bills, mostly surmounted by an excrescence, they seem to be the most abnormal forms of the family, and most of them are besides remarkable for the baldness of some part at least of their head. They assemble in troops, sitting on dead trees, with a loud call, and are very pugnacious, frequently driving away hawks and crows. A. R. Wallace (_Malay Archipelago_, ii. 150-153) discovered the curious fact that two species of this genus--_T. bourensis_ and _T. subcornutus_--respectively inhabiting the islands of Bouru and Ceram, were the object of natural "mimicry" on the part of two species of oriole of the genus _Mimeta_, _M. bourouensis_ and _M. forsteni_, inhabiting the same islands, so as to be on a superficial examination identical in appearance--the honey-eater and the oriole of each island presenting exactly the same tints--the black patch of bare skin round the eyes of the former, for instance, being copied in the latter by a patch of black feathers, and even the protuberance on the beak of the _Tropidorhynchus_ being imitated by a similar enlargement of the beak of the _Mimeta_. The very reasonable explanation which Wallace offers is that the pugnacity of the former has led the smaller birds of prey to respect it, and it is therefore an advantage for the latter, being weaker and less courageous, to be mistaken for it. (A. N.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Among them especially A. R. Wallace, _Geogr. Distr. Animals_, ii
275.

[2] The young of this species has the throat yellow.

[3] W. A. Forbes published a careful monograph of this genus in the
_Proceedings of the Zoological Society_ for 1879, pp. 256-279.

[4] This bird, according to Sir Walter Buller (_Birds of New
Zealand_, p. 88), while uttering its wild notes, indulges in much
gesticulation, which adds to the suggested resemblance. It has great
power of mimicry, and is a favourite cage-bird both with the natives
and colonists. On one occasion, says Buller, he had addressed a large
meeting of Maories on a matter of considerable political importance,
when "immediately on the conclusion of my speech, and before the old
chief to whom my arguments were chiefly addressed had time to reply,
a tui, whose netted cage hung to a rafter overhead, responded in a
clear, emphatic way, 'Tito!' (false). The circumstance naturally
caused much merriment among my audience, and quite upset the gravity
of the venerable old chief, Nepia Taratoa. 'Friend,' said he,
laughing, 'your arguments are very good; but my _mokai_ is a very
wise bird, and he is not yet convinced!'"

HONEY-GUIDE, a bird so called from its habit of pointing out to man and to the ratel (_Mellivora capensis_) the nests of bees. Stories to this effect have been often told, and may be found in the narratives of many African travellers, from Bruce to Livingstone. But Layard says (_B. South Africa_, p. 242) that the birds will not infrequently lead any one to a leopard or a snake, and will follow a dog with vociferations, though its noisy cry and antics unquestionably have in many cases the effect signified by its English name. If not its first discoverer, Sparrman, in 1777, was the first who described and figured this bird, which he met with in the Cape Colony (_Phil. Trans._, lxvii. 42-47, pl. i.), giving it the name of _Culculus indicator_, its zygodactylous feet with the toes placed in pairs--two before and two behind--inducing the belief that it must be referred to that genus. Vicillot in 1816 elevated it to the rank of a genus, _Indicator_; but it was still considered to belong to the family _Cuculidae_ (its asserted parasitical habits lending force to that belief) by all systematists except Blyth and Jerdon, until it was shown by Blanford (_Obs. Geol. and Zool. Abyssinia_, pp. 308, 309) and Sclater (_Ibis_, 1870, pp. 176-180) that it was more allied to the barbets, _Capitonidae_, and, in consequence, was then made the type of a distinct family, _Indicatoridae_. In the meanwhile other species had been discovered, some of them differing sufficiently to warrant Sundevall's foundation of a second genus, _Prodotiscus_, of the group. The honey-guides are small birds, the largest hardly exceeding a lark in size, and of plain plumage, with what appears to be a very sparrow-like bill. Bowdler Sharpe, in a revision of the family published in 1876 (_Orn. Miscellany_, i. 192-209), recognizes ten species of the genus _Indicator_, to which another was added by Dr Reichenow (_Journ. fur Ornithologie_, 1877, p. 110), and two of _Prodotiscus_. Four species of the former, including _I. sparrmani_, which was the first made known, are found in South Africa, and one of the latter. The rest inhabit other parts of the same continent, except _I. archipelagicus_, which seems to be peculiar to Borneo, and _I. xanthonotus_, which occurs on the Himalayas from the borders of Afghanistan to Bhutan. The interrupted geographical distribution of this genus is a very curious fact, no species having been found in the Indian or Malayan peninsula to connect the outlying forms with those of Africa, which must be regarded as their metropolis. (A. N.)

HONEY LOCUST, the popular name of a tree, _Gleditsia triacanthos_, a member of the natural order Leguminosae, and a native of the more eastern United States of North America. It reaches from 75 to 140 ft. in height with a trunk 2 or 3, or sometimes 5 or 6 ft. in diameter, and slender spreading branches which form a broad, flattish crown. The branchlets bear numerous simple or three-forked (whence the species-name _triacanthos_) sharp stiff spines, 3 to 4 in. long, at first red in colour, then chestnut brown; they are borne above the leaf-axils and represent undeveloped branchlets; sometimes they are borne also on the trunk and main branches. The long-stalked leaves are 7 to 8 in. long with eight to fourteen pairs of narrowly oblong leaflets. The flowers, which are of two kinds, are borne in racemes in the leaf-axils; the staminate flowers in larger numbers. The brown pods are often 12 to 18 in. long, have thin, tough walls, and contain a quantity of pulp between the seeds; they contract spirally when drying. The tree was first cultivated in Europe towards the end of the 17th century by Bishop Compton in his garden at Fulham, near London, and is now extensively planted as an ornamental tree. The name of the genus commemorates Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch (1714-1786), a friend of Linnaeus, and the author of one of the earliest works on scientific forestry.

HONEYMOON, the first month after marriage. Lord Avebury in his _Origin of Civilization_ suggests that the seclusion usually associated with this period is a survival of marriage by capture, and answers to the period during which the husband kept his wife in retirement, to prevent her from appealing to her relatives for release. Others suggest that as the moon commences to wane as soon as it is at its full, so does the mutual affection of the wedded pair, the "honeymoon" (with this derivation) not necessarily referring to any definite period of time.

HONEYSUCKLE (Mid. Eng., _honysocle_, i.e. any plant from which honey may be sucked,--cf. A.-S. _huni-suge_, privet; Ger. _Geissblatt_; Fr. _chevrefeuille_), botanical name _Lonicera_, a genus of climbing, erect or prostrate shrubs, of the natural order _Caprifoliaceae_, so named after the 16th-century German botanist Adam Lonicer. The British species is _L. Periclymenum_, the woodbine; _L. Caprifolium_ and _L. Xylosteum_ are naturalized in a few counties in the south and east of England. Some of the garden varieties of the woodbine are very beautiful, and are held in high esteem for their delicious fragrance, even the wild plant, with its pale flowers, compensating for its sickly looks "with never-cloying odours." The North American sub-evergreen _L. sempervirens_, with its fine heads of blossoms, commonly called the trumpet honeysuckle, the most handsome of all the cultivated honeysuckles, is a distinct and beautiful species producing both scarlet and yellow flowered varieties, and the Japanese _L. flexuosa_ var. _aureoreticulata_ is esteemed for its charmingly variegated leaves netted with golden yellow. The fly honeysuckle, _L. Xylosteum_, a hardy shrub of dwarfish, erect habit, and _L. tatarica_, of similar habit, both European, are amongst the oldest English garden shrubs, and bear axillary flowers of various colours, occurring two on a peduncle. There are numerous other species, many of them introduced to our gardens, and well worth cultivating in shrubberies or as climbers on walls and bowers, either for their beauty or the fragrance of their blossoms.

In the western counties of England, and generally by agriculturists, the name honeysuckle is applied to the meadow clover, _Trifolium pratense_. Another plant of the same family (Leguminosae) _Hedysarum coronarium_, a very handsome hardy biennial often seen in old-fashioned collections of garden plants, is commonly called the French honeysuckle. The name is moreover applied with various affixes to several other totally different plants. Thus white honeysuckle and false honeysuckle are names for the North American _Azalea viscosa_; Australian or heath honeysuckle is the Australian _Banksia serrata_, Jamaica honeysuckle, _Passiflora laurifolia_, dwarf honeysuckle the widely spread _Cornus suecica_, Virgin Mary's honeysuckle the European _Pulmonaria officinalis_, while West Indian honeysuckle is _Tecoma capensis_, and is also a name applied to _Desmodium_.

The wood of the fly honeysuckle is extremely hard, and the clear portions between the joints of the stems, when their pith has been removed, were stated by Linnaeus to be utilized in Sweden for making tobacco-pipes. The wood is also employed to make teeth for rakes; and, like that of _L. tatarica_, it is a favourite material for walking-sticks.

Honeysuckles (_Lonicera_) flourish in any ordinary garden soil, but are usually sadly neglected in regard to pruning. This should be done about March, cutting out some of the old wood, and shortening back some of the younger growths of the preceding year. (J. Ws.)

HONFLEUR, a seaport of north-western France, in the department of Calvados, 57 m. N.E. of Caen by rail. Pop. (1906) 8735. The town is situated at the foot of a semicircle of hills, on the south shore of the Seine estuary, opposite Havre, with which it communicates by steamboat. Honfleur, with its dark narrow lanes and old houses, has the typical aspect of an old-fashioned seaport. The most noteworthy of its buildings is the church of St Catherine, constructed entirely of timber work, with the exception of the facade added in the 18th century, and consisting of two parallel naves, of which the more ancient is supposed to date from the end of the 15th century. Within the church are several antique statues and a painting by J. Jordaens--"Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane." The church tower stands on the other side of a street. St Leonard's dates from the 17th century, with the exception of its fine ogival portal and rose-window belonging to the 16th, and its octagonal tower erected in the 18th. The ruins of a 16th-century castle known as the Lieutenance and several houses of the same period are also of antiquarian interest. The hotel de ville contains a library and a museum. On the rising ground above the town is the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Grace, a shrine much resorted to by pilgrim sailors, which is said to have been founded in 1034 by Robert the Magnificent of Normandy and rebuilt in 1606. The town has a tribunal and a chamber of commerce and a communal college. The port, which is protected from the west winds by the height known as the Cote de Grace, consists of the tidal harbour and four floating basins--The West basin, dating from the 17th century, and the Centre, East and Carnot basins. A reservoir affords the means of sluicing the channel and supplying the basins. The surface available for vessels is about 27 acres. Numerous fishing and coasting vessels frequent the harbour. In 1907 there entered 375 vessels, of 133,872 tons, more than half this tonnage being British. The exports go mainly to England and include poultry, butter, eggs, cheese, chocolate, vegetables, fruit, seeds and purple ore. There is regular communication by steamer with Southampton. Timber from Scandinavia, English coal and artificial manures form the bulk of the imports. There are important saw-mills, as well as shipbuilding yards, manufactories of chemical manures and iron foundries.

Honfleur dates from the 11th century and is thus four or five hundred years older than its rival Havre, by which it was supplanted during the 18th century. During the Hundred Years' War it was frequently taken and re-taken, the last occupation by the English ending in 1440. In 1562 the Protestant forces got possession of it only after a regular siege of the suburb of St Leonard; and though Henry IV. effected its capture in 1590 he had again to invest it in 1594 after all the rest of Normandy had submitted to his arms. In the earlier years of the 17th century Honfleur colonists founded Quebec, and Honfleur traders established factories in Java and Sumatra and a fishing establishment in Newfoundland.

HONG-KONG (properly HIANG-KIANG, the place of "sweet lagoons"), an important British island-possession, situated off the south-east coast of China, opposite the province of Kwang-tung, on the east side of the estuary of the Si-kiang, 38 m. E. of Macao and 75 S.E. of Canton, between 22 deg. 9' and 22 deg. 1' N., and 114 deg. 5' and 114 deg. 18' E. It is one of a small cluster named by the Portuguese "Ladrones" or Thieves, on account of the notorious habits of their old inhabitants. Extremely irregular in outline, it has an area of 29 sq. m., measuring 10(1/2) m. in extreme length from N.E. to S.W., and varying in breadth from 2 to 5 m. A good military road about 22 m. long encircles the island. From the mainland it is separated by a narrow channel, which at Hong-Kong roads, between Victoria, the island capital), and Kowloon Point, is about 1 m. broad, and which narrows at Ly-ee-mun Pass to little over a 1/4 m. The southern coast in particular is deeply indented; and there two bold peninsulas, extending for several miles into the sea, form two capacious natural harbours, namely, Deep Water Bay, with the village of Stanley to the east, and Tytam Bay, which has a safe, well-protected entrance showing a depth of 10 to 16 fathoms. An in-shore island on the west coast, called Aberdeen, or Taplishan, affords protection to the Shekpywan or Aberdeen harbour, an inlet provided with a granite graving dock, the caisson gate of which is 60 ft. wide, and the Hope dock, opened in 1867, with a length of 425 ft. and a depth of 24 ft. Opposite the same part of the coast, but nearly 2 m. distant, rises the largest of the surrounding islands, Lamma, whose conspicuous peak, Mount Stenhouse, attains a height of 1140 ft. and is a landmark for local navigation. On the northern shore of Hong-Kong there is a patent slip at East or Matheson Point, which is serviceable during the north-east monsoon, when sailing vessels frequently approach Victoria through the Ly-ee-mun Pass. The ordinary course for such vessels is from the westward, on which side they are sheltered by Green Island and Kellett Bank. There is good anchorage throughout the entire channel separating the island from the mainland, except in the Ly-ee-mun Pass, where the water is deep; the best anchorage is in Hong-Kong roads, in front of Victoria, where, over good holding ground, the depth is 5 to 9 fathoms. The inner anchorage of Victoria Bay, about 1/2 m. off shore and out of the strength of the tide, is 6 to 7 fathoms. Victoria, the seat of government and of trade, is the chief centre of population, but a tract on the mainland is covered with public buildings and villa residences. Practically an outlying suburb of Victoria, Kowloon or (Nine Dragons) is free from the extreme heat of the capital, being exposed to the south-west monsoon. Numerous villas have also been erected along the beautiful western coast of the island, while Stanley, in the south, is favoured as a watering-place.

The island is mountainous throughout, the low granite ridges, parted by bleak, tortuous valleys, leaving in some places a narrow strip of level coast-land, and in others overhanging the sea in lofty precipices. From the sea, and especially from the magnificent harbour which faces the capital, the general aspect of Hong-Kong is one of singular beauty. Inland the prospect is wild, dreary and monotonous. The hills have a painfully bare appearance from the want of trees. The streams, which are plentiful, are traced through the uplands and glens by a line of straggling brushwood and rank herbage. Nowhere is the eye relieved by the evidences of cultivation or fertility. The hills, which are mainly composed of granite, serpentine and syenite, rise in irregular masses to considerable heights, the loftiest point, Victoria Peak, reaching an altitude of 1825 ft. The Peak lies immediately to the south-west of the capital, in the extreme north-west corner of the island, and is used as a station for signalling the approach of vessels. Patches of land, chiefly around the coast, have been laid under rice, sweet potatoes and yams, but the island is hardly able to raise a home-supply of vegetables. The mango, lichen, pear and orange are indigenous, and several fruits and esculents have been introduced. One of the chief products is building-stone, which is quarried by the Chinese. The animals are few, comprising a land tortoise, the armadillo, a species of boa, several poisonous snakes and some woodcock. The public works suffer from the ravages of white ants. Water everywhere abounds, and is supplied to the shipping by means of tanks.

Mainland territory.

Under the Peking Treaty of 1860 the peninsula of Kowloon (about 5 m. in area) was added to Hong-Kong. The population is about 27,000. There are several docks and warehouses, and manufactures are being developed. Granite is quarried in the peninsula. An agreement was entered into in 1898 whereby China leased to Great Britain for ninety-nine years the territory behind Kowloon peninsula up to a line drawn from Mirs Bay to Deep Bay and the adjoining islands, including Lantao. The new district, which extends to 376 sq. m. in area, is mountainous, with extensive cultivated valleys of great fertility, and the coastline is deeply indented by bays. The alluvial soil of the valleys yields two crops of rice in the year. Sugar-cane, indigo, hemp, peanuts, potatoes of different varieties, yam, taro, beans, sesamum, pumpkins and vegetables of all kinds are also grown. The mineral resources are as yet unknown. The population is estimated at about 100,000. It consists of Puntis (or Cantonese), Hakkas ("strangers") and Tankas. The Puntis are agricultural and inhabit the valleys, and they make excellent traders. The Hakkas are a hardy and frugal race, belonging mainly to the hill districts. The Tankas are the boat people or floating population. In the government of the new territory the existing organization is as far as possible utilized.

Victoria.

Hong-Kong or Victoria harbour constantly presents an animated appearance, as many as 240 guns having been fired as salutes in a single day. Its approaches are strongly fortified. The steaming distance from Singapore is 1520 m. Victoria, the capital, often spoken of as Hong-Kong (population over 166,000, of whom about 6000 are European or American), stretches for about 4 m. along the north coast. Its breadth varies from 1/2 m. in the central portions to 200 or 300 yds. in the eastern and western portions. The town is built in three layers. The "Praya" or esplanade, 50 ft. wide, is given up to shipping. The Praya reclamation scheme provided for the extension of the land frontage of 250 ft. and a depth of 20 ft. at all states of the tide. A further extension of the naval dockyard was begun in 1902, and a new commercial pier was opened in 1900. The main commercial street runs inland parallel with the Praya. Beyond the commercial portion, on each side, lie the Chinese quarters, wherein there is a closely packed population. In 1888, 1600 people were living in the space of a single acre, and over 100,000 were believed to be living within an area not exceeding 1/2 m.; and the overcrowding does not tend to diminish, for in one district, in 1900, it was estimated that there were at the rate of 640,000 persons on the sq. m. The average, however, for the whole of the city is 126 per acre, or 80,640 per sq. m. The second stratum of the town lies ten minutes' climb up the side of the island. Government house and other public buildings are in this quarter. There abound "beautifully laid out gardens, public and private, and solidly constructed roads, some of them bordered with bamboos and other delicately-fronded trees, and fringed with the luxuriant growth of semi-tropical vegetation." Finally, the third layer, known as "the Peak," and reached by a cable tramway, is dotted over with private houses and bungalows, the summer health resort of those who can afford them; here a new residence for the governor was begun in 1900. Excellent water is supplied to the town from the Pokfolum and Tytam reservoirs, the former containing 68 million gallons, the latter 390 millions.

_Climate._--The temperature has a yearly range of from 45 deg. to 99
deg., but it occasionally falls below 40 deg., and ice occurs on the
Peak. In January 1893 ice was found at sea-level. The wet season
begins in May, after showers in March and April, and continues until
the beginning of August. During this period rain falls almost without
intermission. The rainfall varies greatly, but the mean is about 90
in. In 1898 only 57.025 in. fell, while in 1897 there were 100.03 in.;
in 1899, 72.7 in. and in 1900, 73.7 in. The damp is extremely
penetrating. During the dry season the climate is healthy, but
dysentery and intermittent fever are not uncommon. Bilious remittent
fever occurs in the summer months, and smallpox prevails from November
to March. The annual death-rate per 1000 for the whole population in
1902 was 21.70.

_Population, &c._--The following table shows the increase of
population:--

+------+----------+--------------+------------------+
| | | | Total (including |
| |Europe and| |Military and Naval|
| Year.| American |Chinese Civil.|Establishments and|
| | Civil. | | Indians, &c.). |
+------+----------+--------------+------------------+
| 1881 | 3,040 | 148,850 | 160,402 |
| 1891 | 4,195 | 208,383 | 221,441 |
| 1901 | 3,860 | 274,543 | 283,978 |
| 1906 | 12,174 | 306,130 | 326,961 |
+------+----------+--------------+------------------+

Education is provided by a few government schools and by a large
number receiving grants-in-aid. The foundation-stone of Hong-Kong
University was laid in March 1910, the buildings being the gift of Sir
Hormusjee Mody, a colonial broker. The Queen's College provides
secondary education for boys. There are several hospitals, one of
which is a government institution. The Hong-Kong savings bank has
deposits amounting to about $1,100,000. There is a police force
composed of Europeans, Indian Sikhs and Chinese; and a strong military
garrison.

_Industries._--Beyond the cultivation of vegetable gardens there is
practically no agricultural industry in the colony. But although only
400 acres are cultivated on Hong-Kong island, and the same number of
acres in Kowloon, there are 90,000 acres under cultivation in the new
territory, of which over 7000 acres were in 1900 planted with
sugar-cane. Granite quarries are worked. The chief industries are
sugar-refining, the manufacture of cement, paper, bamboo and rattan
ware, carving in wood and ivory, working in copper and iron,
gold-beating and the production of gold, silver and sandal-wood ware,
furniture making, umbrella and jinricksha making, and industries
connected with kerosene oil and matches. The manufacture of cotton has
been introduced. Ship and boat building, together with subsidiary
industries, such as rope and sail making, appear less subject to
periods of depression than other industries.

_Trade._--Hong-Kong being a free port, there are no official figures
as to the amount of trade; but the value of the exports and imports is
estimated as about L50,000,000 in the year. Among the principal goods
dealt with are tea, silk, opium, sugar, flax, salt, earthenware, oil,
amber, cotton and cotton goods, sandal-wood, ivory, betel, vegetables,
live stock and granite. There is an extensive Chinese passenger trade.
The following are the figures of ships cleared and entered:--

+------+------------+------------+
| Year.| Tonnage. | British. |
+------+------------+------------+
| 1880 | 8,359,994 | 3,758,160 |
| 1890 | 13,676,293 | 6,994,919 |
| 1898 | 17,265,780 | 8,705,648 |
| 1902 | 19,709,451 | 8,945,976 |
+------+------------+------------+

The Chinese ships rank next to British ships in the amount of trade.
German and Japanese ships follow next.

_Finance._--The revenue and expenditure are given below:--

+------+-----------+------------+
| Year.| Revenue. |Expenditure.|
+------+-----------+------------+
| 1880 |$1,069,948 | $948,014 |
| 1890 | 1,995,220 | 1,915,350 |
| 1898 | 2,918,159 | 2,841,805 |
| 1902 | 4,901,073 | 4,752,444 |
+------+-----------+------------+

The main sources of revenue are licences, rent of government property,
the post-office and land sales. The light dues were reduced in 1898
from 2(1/2) cents to 1 cent per ton. There is a public debt of about
L340,000, borrowed for public works, which is being paid off by a
sinking fund. The only legal tender is the Mexican dollar, and the
British and Hong-Kong dollar, or other silver dollars of equivalent
value duly authorized by the governor. There are small silver and
copper coins, which are legal tenders for amounts not exceeding two
dollars and one dollar respectively. There is also a large paper
currency in the form of notes issued by the Chartered Bank of India,
Australia and China, the Hong-Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
and the National Bank of China, Limited. The foundation of new law
courts was laid in 1900.

_Administration._--Formerly an integral part of China, the island of
Hong-Kong was first ceded to Great Britain in 1841, and the cession
was confirmed by the treaty of Nanking in 1842, the charter bearing
the date 5th of April 1843. The colony is administered by a governor,
executive council and legislative council. The executive council
consists of the holders of certain offices and of such other members
as the crown may nominate. In 1890 there were nine members. The
legislative council consists of the same officials and of six
unofficial members. Of these, three are appointed by the governor (of
whom one must be, and two at present are, members of the Chinese
community); one is elected from the chamber of commerce, and one from
the justices of the peace.

AUTHORITIES.--Sir G. W. des Voeux, _Report on Blue-book of 1888_; _A
Handbook to Hong-Kong_ (Hong-Kong, 1893); _The China Sea Directory_
(vol. iii., 3rd ed., 1894); Henry Norman, _The Peoples and Politics of
the Far East_ (London, 1895); Sir E. Hertslet, _Treaties between Great
Britain and China and China and Foreign Powers_ (London, 1896); A. R.
Colquhoun, _China in Transformation_ (London, 1898); _Colonial
Possessions Report_, No. 84; and other _Colonial Annual Reports_.

HONITON, a market town and municipal borough in the Honiton parliamentary division of Devonshire, England, pleasantly situated on rising ground on the left bank of the Otter, 16(1/2) m. E.N.E. of Exeter by the London & South-Western railway. Pop. (1901) 3271. The town consists of one wide street, down which a stream of water runs, extending for about 1 m., and crossed at right angles by a lesser street. The restored church of St Michael, formerly a parish church, but standing on a hill about 1/2 m. from the town, was built by Courtenay, bishop of Exeter, about 1482. It retains a curiously carved screen, and the black marble tomb of Queen Elizabeth's physician, Marwood, who attained the age of 105. Allhallows Grammar School, founded in 1614, was enlarged in 1893; St Margaret's hospital, founded as a lazar-house in the 14th century, is converted into almshouses. Honiton is famous for its lace industry, established by refugees from Flanders under Queen Elizabeth. The delicate fabric made by hand on the pillow was long in demand; its sale was, however, greatly diminished by the competition of cheaper machine-made goods, and a school of lace-making was opened to promote its recovery. The town possesses breweries, tanneries, malthouses, flour-mills, saw-mills, brick and tile works, potteries and an iron foundry; its trade in butter is considerable. It is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 3134 acres.

Honiton (_Honetona_, _Huneton_) is situated on the British Icknield Street, and was probably the site of an early settlement, but it does not appear in history before the Domesday Survey, when it was a considerable manor, held by Drew (Drogo) under the count of Mortain, who had succeeded Elmer the Saxon, with a subject population of 33, a flock of 80 sheep, a mill and 2 salt-workers. The borough was founded before 1217 by William de Vernon, earl of Devon, whose ancestor Richard de Redvers had received the manor from Henry I. In the 14th century it passed to the Courtenays, and in 1698 Sir William Courtenay was confirmed in the right of holding court leet, view of frank-pledge and the nomination of a portreeve, these privileges having been surrendered to James II. The borough was represented by two members in parliament in 1300 and 1311, and then not again till 1640, from which date it returned two members until disfranchised by the act of 1868, the returning officer being the portreeve, who was also the chief magistrate of the borough until its incorporation by charter of 1846. In 1221 Falkes de Breaute, then custodian of the borough, rendered a palfrey for holding a three days' fair at the feast of All Saints, transferred in 1247 to the feast of St Margaret, and still held under that grant. A great market for corn and other produce is still held on Saturday by prescription. The wool manufacture flourished at Honiton in the reign of Henry VII., and it is said to have been the first town at which serges were made, but the industry entirely declined during the 19th century. The lace manufacture was introduced by Flemish refugees, and was flourishing in the reign of Charles I.

See _Victoria County History, Devonshire_; A. Farquharson, _History of
Honiton_ (Exeter, 1868).