THE MANNA OF THE DESERT. 459 



var. Mannifera), upon whose twigs and bark it appears 

 in honey-like drops, which in the cool temperatures of 

 the early morning's are found as described above, in 

 a solid state: and in the valleys of these mountains it 

 is collected by the Arabs, sometimes in large quanti- 

 ties, according to the amount of the rainfall, which 

 promotes its secretion, though in common with many 

 other vegetable exudations it is caused by the punc- 

 tures made in the bark by an insect parasite the Coccus 

 Manniparous. * This manna is, however, different from 

 the manna of commerce, obtained by making incisions 

 in the stems of cultivated trees of the flowering or 

 Manna ash (Fraxinus Ornus], f nevertheless it forms an 

 article of local trade among the Bedouin tribes. 



The desert hills all through the peninsula of Sinai 

 are also covered with aromatic plants of which men- 

 tion has been made, many of which consist of varieties 

 of the Thymaceae, distinguished for their powerfully 

 fragrant qualities which perfume the hands or garments 

 of all who handle or touch them. Thus in the patri- 

 archal times, in the historical narrative of the death of 

 Isaac who, in accordance with the ancient custom of 

 the period, called his successor to his bedside, to bless 

 him before he died, we find the Scripture describing 

 the raiment of Jacob as being thus scented with the 

 herbage of the fields. We can have no doubt that it 

 was through some recent contact with these aromatic 

 plants, that it became thus perfumed. The passage runs 

 as follows: 



" And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and 



* See the Encycl. Brit., 9th Edit., Vol. xv., p. 493. Article "Manna." 



f See The British Pharmacopoeia of 1885, p. 265. 



Encycl. Brit., 9th Edit., Vol. xxii., p. 89. Article " Sinai." 



