pPant 'l5)orc, IsegcT^b/, anR "!'3qricy. 429 



the five senses. A young maiden once plucked one of these blossoms, 

 and offered it to the god, saying : — 



"God of the bow, who with Spring's clioicest flowers 

 Dost point the five unerring; shafts ; to thee 

 I dedicate this blossom ; let it serve 

 To barl) thy truest arrow ; be its mark 

 Some youthful heart that pines to be beloved." 



Kamadeva accepted the offering, and tipped with the Mango-flower 

 one of his darts, which, from that time, was known as the arrow 

 of love, and is the god's favourite dart. Along with Sandalwood, 

 the wood of the Mango is used by the Hindus in burning their 

 dead. Among the Indian jugglers, the apparent producflion and 

 growth of the Mango-tree is a performance executed in such a 

 marvellous manner as to excite the astonishment of those who 

 have most determined to discover how the illusion is effe(fted. 



MANNA. — Some naturalists consider that the Manna mira- 

 culously provided for the sustenance of the Children of Israel in the 

 Desert was a species of Lichen — the Parmelia esculenta. Josephus, 

 however, describes it as a kind of dew which fell, like honey in 

 sweetness and pleasant taste, but like in its body to Bdellium, 

 one of the sweet spices, but in bigness equal to Coriander-seed. 

 The origin of the different species of Manna or sugary exuda- 

 tions which cover certain trees, has at all times been a subjecft 

 of wonder, and for a long time it was thought that these saccha- 

 rine tears, which appear so quickly, were simply deposits from 

 the atmosphere. The Manna used in medicine is principally pro- 

 cured from the flowering Ash [Fraxinus oriins), which is cultivated 

 for the purpose in Sicily and Calabria : the puncfture of an insecl: 

 of the cochineal family causes the sap to exude. The Manna of 

 Mount Sinai is drawn from the Tamarisk by pundlure of the 

 coccus : it exudes in a thick syrup during the day, falls in drops, 

 congeals in the night, and is gathered in the cool of the morning. 

 The Larch-tree furnishes the Manna of Briangon. A sweet sub- 

 stance resembling Manna exudes from the leaves of the Eucalyptus 

 rcsinifcra, dries in the sun, and when the leaves are shaken b}' the 

 wind, falls like a shower of snow. In some countries, even herbs 

 are covered with an abundant sugary exudation similar to Manna. 

 Bruce observed this in Abyssinia. Matthiolus relates that in some 

 parts of Italy the Manna glues the grass of the meadows together 



in such a manner as to impede the mowers at their work. To 



dream of Manna denotes that you will be successful through life, 

 and overcome all troubles. 



MAPLE. — The wood of the Maple {Acer) was considered by 

 Pliny to be, in point of elegance and firmness, next to the Citron 

 itself. The veined knobs of old Maples, known as the bruscum 

 and molluscum, were highly prized by the Romans, and of these 

 curiously-marked woods were made the famous Tigrine and Pan- 



