348 Sino-Iranica 



in India guzangabin, is collected from the tamarisk (Tamarix gallica, 

 var. mannifera Ehrenb.) in the valleys of the Peninsula of Sinai and 

 also in Persia. 1 In the latter country, the above name is likewise applied 

 to a manna obtained from Astragalus florulentus and A. adscendens 

 in the mountain-districts of Chahar-Mahal and Faraidan, and especially 

 about the town of Khonsar, south-west of Ispahan. The best sorts of 

 this manna, which are termed gaz-alefi or gaz-khonsar (from the prov- 

 ince Khonsar), are obtained in August by shaking it from the branches, 

 the little drops finally sticking together and forming a dirty, grayish- 

 white, tough mass. According to Schlimmer, 2 the shrub on which this 

 manna is formed is common everywhere, without yielding, however, 

 the slightest trace of manna, which is solely obtained in the small 

 province Khonsar or Khunsar. The cause for this phenomenon is 

 sought in the existence there of the Coccus mannifer and in the absence 

 of this insect in other parts of the country. Several Persian physicians 

 of Ispahan, and some European authors, have attributed to the puncture 

 of this insect the production of manna in Khonsar; and Schlimmer 

 recommends transporting and acclimatizing the insect to those regions 

 where Tamarix grows spontaneously. 



It has been stated that the earliest allusion to tamarisk-manna is 

 to be found in Herodotus, 3 who says in regard to the men of the city 

 Callatebus in Asia Minor that they make honey out of wheat and the 

 fruit of the tamarisk. The case, however, is different; Herodotus does 

 not allude to the exudation of the tree. 



Stuart 4 states that tamarisk-manna is called ten $u H£ %. The 

 tamarisk belongs to the flora of China, three species of it being known. 5 

 The Chinese, as far as I know, make no reference to a manna from any 

 of these species; and the term pointed out by Stuart merely refers to 

 the sap in the interior of the tree, which, according to the Pen ts'ao, is 

 used in the Materia Medica. Ceh Tsiao, JIB W* of the Sung period, in 

 bis T'un U jS iS, 6 simply defines l x eh %u as "the sap in the wood or 

 trunk of the tamarisk." 7 



1 See particularly D. Hooper, Tamarisk Manna, Journal As. Soc. Bengal, 

 Vol. V, 1909, pp. 31-36. 



2 Terminologie, p. 359. 

 » vii, 31. 



4 Chinese Materia Medica, p. 259. 



8 Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. II, No. 527; Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 35 b, p. 9. 



6 Ch. 76, p. 12. 



7 The Turkl name for the tamarisk is yulgun. In Persian it is styled gaz or 

 gazm (Kurd gazo or gezu), the fruit gazmazak or gazmazu (gaz basrah, the manna of 

 the tree); further, balangmus't, balangmusk, or balanjmusk, and Arabic-Persian 

 kizmazaj. 



