160 FIRST FORMS OF VEGETATION. 
the Almighty source of his being, that being is 
but as a straw upon a whirlpool. 
There are several other species of lichens, which 
have now and then, on rare occasions, been 
employed as articles of food. There is a greyish 
shaggy lichen abundant on pine-trees in the British 
woods, called Evernia prunastri, which is said in 
ancient times to have rivalled even the Iceland 
moss for its nutritious qualities. Forskoel says in 
reference to it in his Flora Arabica, ‘I have heard 
a great deal about a Schoebean plant unknown to 
me, without a portion of which, mixed with its 
contents, no kind of bread is manufactured. 
Shiploads of it are regularly conveyed to 
Alexandria from the Grecian Archipelago. A 
handful of the lichen is inserted in water for two 
hours, which, when added to the dough, imparts 
to the bread a peculiar flavour, esteemed delicious 
by the Turks.’ It is possessed of a mawkish 
insipid taste, and especially if produced on oaks 
is somewhat astringent, but not destitute of 
nutritious qualities. 
There is a curious lichen found in some eastern 
countries called Lecanora esculenta, regarding 
which several strange facts have been related 
by travellers. Some authors are strongly of 
opinion, that the manna with which the Israelites 
were fed in the wilderness may be referred to this 
