AMERICAN MANNA 193 



the Red Sea, left the earth covered with live lady bugs. 

 The nearest wooded land from the storm's direction, 

 a thousand or more miles, was African Abyssinia. A 

 lichen (manna lichen) is said likewise to be carried "vast 

 distances," and is eaten where it "falls from heaven." 

 Manna of commerce is supplied by the manna ash, 

 Fraxinus Ornus, of the Southern Tyrol, Italy, Switzer- 

 land, Asia Minor, and the mountainous islands of the 

 Mediterranean and countries adjacent. In Central 

 Europe it grows as an ornamental tree, the foliage ex- 

 hibiting great variation in shape of leaflets, and the 

 fruit being diverse in form. According to Fliickiger 

 and Hanbury, (240), previous to the 15th century the 

 manna of Europe was imported from the East, and was 

 not derived from the manna ash. Manna in early days 

 was a natural exudate, much scarcer than at present, 

 and much more expensive. The increase in production, 

 now artificially maintained, has lessened the price, but 

 at the expense of quality. During the 16th century 

 the plan was devised of artificially producing a more 

 copious supply of the gum by incising the trunk and 

 branches, and this method gradually became predom- 

 inant, although it was strenuously resisted by legisla- 

 tive enactments. The name Gibelmanna, manna 

 mountain, by which an eminence of the Madonian range 

 of mountains in Sicily is known, indicates that this 

 mountain furnished manna during the days of the 

 Saracens in Sicily. Manna has been used as a domestic 

 remedy from all times as a gentle laxative. It is sup- 

 posed, in domestic medicine in this country, to modify 

 the griping qualities of a mixture of senna and jalap. 

 Its domestic use in America came through European 

 home medication. 



