Schroder was much puzzled by this substance and was doubtful whether to class it among animal or mineral substances. He decided to include it among minerals. Subsequently it was believed to be the spawn of the whale, and from this belief it acquired its name. Still its origin continued to be discussed. Gesner said it was a milk shed by the whale. Borrichius believed it to be the spinal marrow. Pomet affirms with certainty that spermaceti is the brain of the whale (cachalot). He had not only seen it prepared, but had prepared it himself. He described the process. The brain was melted over a gentle fire, then cast into moulds, cooled, and when the oil had drained off, remelted, moulded again and again until it was very white. Then, with a knife made for the purpose, it was cut into scales or flakes. Lemery says the ancients gave it the name, believing it to be the seed of the whale, which was found floating on the sea. But in (his) modern times this opinion had been rejected, and it was held to be a kind of sea froth driven by the waves to and fro. Quite recently (when he wrote) it had been learnt that it was drawn from the head of the whale. Our spermaceti ointment was known in earlier pharmacopœias as unguentum album, and at first contained white lead. HONEY is one of the oldest of food products, and was the only sweetening substance in popular use until quite modern times. Sugar was known in India and was imported into Greece and Rome at very early periods. The name saccharum is of Sanskrit origin, and therefore testifies to its ancient lineage, and allusions to it, likening it to honey, are to be found in the writings of many of the classic naturalists from Herodotus onwards. The Arabs, who had long brought sugar from India to the wealthy West, made great use of it in medicine, and the early apothecaries in England, France, and Germany were the makers of sweetmeats from sugar to royal and aristocratic gourmets. Queen Elizabeth’s apothecaries were in the habit of presenting her with boxes of sweetmeats on her birthdays.