66 THE ASH. 



Ash-key rooted itself on a decayed willow, and finding, as 

 it increased, a deficiency of nourishment in the mother 

 plant, began to insinuate its fibres, by degrees, through 

 the trunk of the willow, into the earth. There, receiving 

 an additional recruit, it began to thrive and expand itself 

 to such a size that it burst the willow in pieces, which fell 

 away from it ; and what was before the Ash, being now ex- 

 posed to the air, became the solid trunk of a vigorous tree." 



Ash-keys were held in high repute by the ancient phy- 

 sicians for their medicinal properties. They were also 

 preserved with salt and vinegar, and sent to table as a 

 sauce, when, says Evelyn, " being pickled tender they 

 afford a delicate salading." 



From a foreign species of Ash, Frdxinus Ornus of Lin- 

 naeus, Omits Europeca of modern authors, is procured a 

 substance which, from its appearance somewhat according 

 with the description of the miraculous food of the Israel- 

 ites in the wilderness, is called Manna. This substance 

 is chiefly collected in Calabria and Sicily ; where, accord- 

 ing to the Materia Medico, of Geoffroy, the manna runs of 

 itself from the trunks of some trees, while it does not flow 

 from others unless wounds are made in the bark. Those 

 trees which yield the manna spontaneously grow in the 

 most favourable situations, and the sap runs from them 

 only during the greatest heats of summer. 



It begins to ooze out about mid-day, in the form of a 

 clear liquid, which soon thickens, and continues to appear 

 until the cool of the evening, when it begins to harden 

 into granules, which are scraped off the following morning. 

 When the night has been damp or rainy, the manna does 

 not harden, but runs to the ground and is lost. This kind 

 is called manna in tears, or manna latjrimi, and is as 

 white and pure as the finest sugar. About the end of 

 July, when the liquid ceases to flow of itself, incisions are 

 made through the bark and soft wood ; and into these 

 incisions slender pieces of straw or twig are inserted, in 

 which the manna runs, and coating them over, hardens on 



