SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



233 



ilicis, of which the dye-stuff called " Kermes " is 

 manufactured. 



The gummy matter falls most plentifully in rainy 

 seasons on the leaves and the ground beneath the 

 trees (fig. 6), and when falling on clean rock is 

 white as snow in colour. It soon hardens, but 

 melts again (says the traveller Burckhardt) as soon 

 as the sun shines upon it, so it is collected by the 

 Arabs before sunrise, when it is coagulated. They 

 clear away the leaves, dirt, etc., which adhere to it, 

 boil it, strain it through a coarse cloth, and put 

 it into leathern skins. In this way they preserve it 

 till the following year, and use it, as they do honey, 

 to pour on their unleavened bread and dip the 

 bread into. 



This . substance corresponds in size, taste and 

 colour, as also in the time and mode of its appear- 

 ance and collection, with the manna of Exodus xvi. 

 and Numbers xi. " We read " (says Carl Ritter, in 

 his " Geography of Palestine ") " that this food was 

 provided after the Israelites had taken their journey 

 from Elim and had come into the Wilderness of Sin, 

 which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth 

 day of the second month after their departing out 

 of the land of Egypt. This seems to correspond 

 with the Wady Taibe, the most northern point, 

 according to Seetzen, where the manna {Tamarix 

 mannifera) is found, and the time after the passage of 

 the Red Sea coincides accurately with the season 

 when it is first observed in the Wad}* Feiran." 



It has been objected that very limited supplies 

 of this manna are gathered in the present day, but 

 travellers have recorded that the vegetation of the 

 desert has been ruthlessly destroyed by the Bedouins, 

 chiefly for the manufacture of charcoal, and we can 

 be sure that in the time of the Israelites' wander- 

 ings the tamarisk extended in vast forests over the 

 district where it is still found. The camel's-thorn 

 was also no doubt much more abundant at that 

 time than in the present day. Add to which, the 

 yield of manna would be enormously increased if 

 we suppose that the same winds which brought the 

 quails in such profusion also brought an unusual 

 quantity of the Coccus parasite, and that the trees 

 were abnormally punctured. 



It would be interesting to know the grounds 

 upon which the learned author and editor of the 

 "Natural History of Plants" have pronounced 

 so decidedly in favour of the lichen, as it appears 

 from the foregoing review of the subject that the 

 food of the Israelites consisted, with a much 

 greater degree of probability, of the exudation 

 still known as manna, than of the dry and 

 insipid lichen. 



Some, however, may be inclined to think that 

 the manna described with such exactness in the 

 Scriptures was that of the tamarisk supplemented 

 by the other sorts known to be common in the 

 Sinaitic Peninsula. 



HINTS TO COLLECTORS. 



T T can never be too forcibly impressed upon 

 those who are at all interested in the pursuit 

 of scientific knowledge that one of the most 

 absolutely essential features connected with the 

 same is the keeping of a full and carefully-written 

 record of their observations. 



Among the multitude of facts nature teaches, it 

 is impossible to long retain in the mind even the 

 most pronounced details of any scientific object 

 which may have come under our notice. The 

 consequence resulting is, that when we wish to 

 recall the facts associated with some object in our 

 collection or relating to a peculiar phenomenon 

 we have witnessed, we have only a meagre know- 

 ledge concerning it, if, as is too often the case, its 

 data have not entirely slipped from memory. The 

 forming of collections — no matter of what class of 

 objects they may consist — is an altogether useless 

 undertaking unless a carefully-compiled record is 

 kept of their finding, and of facts relating thereto. 

 It is not for the mere possessing of the objects 

 themselves, however beautiful they may be, that 

 we collect them, but that we may study them and 

 learn their peculiarities. 



Whether it is a flower or fern gathered for 

 preservation, a fossil exhumed from the rocks, or 

 an insect captured, all are devoid of lasting interest 

 and of no service in the future unless a written 

 record has been kept of the conditions when and 

 where they were obtained. What a ruthless 

 destruction of animal and more especially insect 

 life exists amongst scientific collectors, or those 

 who consider themselves as such, the greater 

 portion of which might well be avoided if a little 

 more attention were given to this most vital point. 

 We often see collections of objects that would 

 have been better left where they were in nature than 

 collected in the manner I have indicated, and so 

 rendered altogether useless ; for if left, the possibility 

 exists of their falling into other and more w'orthy 

 hands, and perhaps scientific knowledge thus 

 heightened and enriched. Whenever an object 

 worthy of preservation is discovered, a note of the 

 fact should be made in such a manner that its 

 history can readily be found when needed, and 

 the fuller the details given concerning it the 

 greater service it may prove at some time in 

 the future. 



Needless to say, it is imperative that all obser- 

 vations should be accurate, especially in relation to 

 dates and attendant conditions. It is best to make 

 them at once and on the spot. The nomenclature 

 and description of the object should be as accu- 

 rately expressed as lies within the power of the 

 observer, assistance in this direction being sought 

 from all available sources. E. F. J. Bryan. 



Bristol ; Dcamber, iSg6. 



