[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.
[Illustration]
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.)