124 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 
Manna (of the flowering Ash). 
Of the Manna, so called, of Scripture, we know nothing further than 
what we learn from the Sacred Book. 1f it be analogous to any natural 
esculent substance which may appear at different seasons, and in 
greater or less abundance, those writers who refer it to a Lichen (Leca- 
nora esculenta) still eaten by some eastern nations, are perhaps not far 
from the truth. 
The Manna to which we allude is a sweet concrete exudation well 
known in medicine, of which samples may be seen in the Museum of 
the Royal Gardens of Kew; and a fine specimen of the tree which 
yields it exists in the old Arboretum, very near the largest Deodar. 
It is the Fraxinus Ornus of Linneus or flowering ash, (the Fraxinus 
rotundifolia of Lamarck appears only a trifling variety of the same 
tree), a native of the South of Europe and Asia Minor; but the Manna 
seems chiefly to be collected in Calabria and Sicily. The best account 
we can find of the process of obtaining it is recently given in the 
American Journal of Science and Arts, extracted from the Archiv. 
der Pharm. vol. iii. p. 194 of Mr. J. a who made his observa- 
tions in Sicily during the summer of 1847. “ The Manna Ash, Fraxinus 
nus, in the Manna districts of Capace, Cinesi, and Fabarotto where 
the best Manna is obtained, does not form woods, as is commonly sup- 
posed, but is cultivated in separate plantations. These plantations 
generally present regular squares, hedged in with Cactus Opuntia. The 
trees are planted in rows, and are from two to eight inches in diameter, 
with stems from ten to twenty-five feet high, which from the first shoot 
are kept smooth and clean. ‘The soil is carefully loosened and 
freed from weeds. After the eighth year the trees yield Manna, which 
they continue to do from ten to twelve years, when they are cut down, 
and young shoots from the roots trained: one root-stalk. frequently 
yields from six to eight new trees and more. For the production of 
the Manna, young and strong shoots are requisite; but they are not 
tapped till the tree ceases to push forth any more leaves, and the 
sap consequently collects in the stem. This period is recognised by 
the cultivators from the appearance of the leaves; sometimes it occurs 
earlier than at others, and the collection of the Manna ‘takes place 
either at the beginning of July or only in August. Close to the soil 
cross sections are made in the stem, and in the lowermost sections 
small leaves are inserted, which conduct the sap into a receptacle 
formed by a cactus leaf: this is the way the Manna in sorte is obtained. 
