THE SOURCES OF MANNA. 227 



In Styria the common larch exudes from its leaves and branches a honied 

 juice, which, becoming hard, forms a kind of manna, called Manna of 

 Briancon. A kind of manna is found in small quantities on the branches of 

 the cedar of Lebanon, in the form of transparent resinous drops, indubitably 

 the result of the punctures of an insect. The monks collect it, and prepare 

 with it various electuaries and ointments, which are sold to strangers visit- 

 ing the monasteries. This cedar manna enjoys a considerable reputation in 

 Syria as a remedy in phthisis. 



Burchardt states that a species of manna which exudes from a variety of 

 the tamarisk (T. manniferci) is used by the Bedouin Arabs of the neighbour- 

 hood of Mount Sinai with their food ; it does not, however, contain any 

 mannite, but consists wholly of mucilaginous sugar. 



The tamarisk manna is produced through the puncture of Coccus manni- 

 parus, an insect inhabiting the tamarisk trees which grow abundantly in 

 the neighbourhood of Mount Sinai. The monks from the monasteries of 

 the district collect the saccharine secretions which exudes as a thick, trans- 

 parent syrup, covering the smaller branches from which it flows. The 

 collection of the manna takes place in August ; it requires to be performed 

 very early in the morning, at which time, owing to the coolness of the 

 night, the saccharine juice has become to some extent congealed. Later in 

 the day the solar heat causes it to drop upon the ground. When collected 

 it is usually stored away in large earthen vessels, which are preserved in 

 cellars during the entire year. To strangers the tamarisk manna is sold in 

 little vessels of tinned iron. Dr. Landerer says that he purchased one of 

 these of a pilgrim who had been in Palestine. The manna was a yellowish 

 granular syrupy mass, very sweet, and intermixed with the little leaves of 

 the tamarisk. It dissolved in water or in alcohol, and the aqueous solution 

 readily fermented ; the alcohol obtained by distillation had a peculiar odour, 

 resembling that derived from the fruits of Ceratonia siliqua, which contains 

 butyric acid. The manna is eaten in Palestine and in the neighbour- 

 hood of Sinai as a delicacy, and is reputed efficacious in diseases of the 

 chest. 



Manna of the desert is the exudation of the camel's thorn (Alhagi mauro- 

 rurn, Dec. ; Hedysarum Alhagi, Linn.), an erect thorny shrub, belonging to 

 the natural order Leguminosae. Extensive plains are entirely covered with 

 the plant in Arabia and Palestine, and especially in Egypt and Syria. It 

 appears to afford the manna chiefly through the wounds occasioned by the 

 browsing of the sheep, goats, &c. It is collected by the leaders of the 

 caravans, and by the Arabs who cross the deserts, and who avail themselves 

 of this manna as nutriment. This substance occurs in small, round, unequal 

 grains, the size of coriander seed, of yellowish-white or greenish-yellow 

 colour, caking together and forming an opaque mass, in which are found 

 portions of the thorns and fruits of the plant. This manna is inodorous, its 

 flavour is sweetly saccharine, followed by slight acidity. A good analysis 

 of it is still a desideratum. As a medicine its effects correspond to those of 

 the ash manna. The inhabitants collect these exudations and make them 



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