170 FRAXINUS ORNUS 



the trees, which are cultivated for the purpose (B. P.). A con- 

 crete saccharine exudation from the stem, obtained by incisions 

 (I. P.). MANNA; the concrete saccharine exudation, in flakes, of 

 Fraxinus Ornus, and of Fraxinus rotundifolia (U. S. P.). 



Extraction, Collection, and Commerce. Manna was formerly 

 obtained, as stated in the British and other pharmacopoeias, from 

 Sicily and Calabria, but the manna of commerce, as ascertained 

 by Hanbury, is now exclusively collected in Sicily. For this 

 purpose the trees are cultivated in plantations called frassinetti. 

 When a tree is about 8 years old, and its stem not less than 3 

 inches in diameter, it is usually found to be in a sufficient state 

 of maturity for the collection of manna. The stem generally 

 continues to yield manna for 10 or 12 years, when it is cut 

 down, and its place is ultimately taken by one or more shoots 

 from the stump. 



To obtain manna, transverse incisions from about ]J to 2 

 inches in length and 1 inch apart, are made in the bark so as 

 just to reach the wood, by means of a hooked or curved knife. 

 One transverse cut is first made at the lower end of the tree near 

 the ground, and a corresponding incision is made directly above 

 this on the succeeding day, and this operation is repeated daily 

 in warm weather, as long as the dry weather lasts, for dry and 

 warm weather are necessary for a good harvest. In the following 

 year similar incisions are made in a part of the stem which was 

 untouched the previous year; and a similar operation is repeated 

 in succeeding years, until the tree has been incised all round and is 

 exhausted, when it is cut down as before noticed. The best time for 

 making incisions into the trees is about July or August, at which 

 period they have ceased to produce more leaves. From the in- 

 cisions thus made in the stems manna exudes as a clear liquid 

 which soon concretes on the stem, or on other substances placed 

 for that purpose in the incisions. Hanbury says, that ' ' Pieces of 

 stick or straws are inserted in the incisions, and become encrusted 

 with the very superior manna called Manna a cannolo, which, 

 however, is unknown in commerce as a special sort. The fine 

 manna ordinarily seen appears to have hardened on the stem of 



