THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
Ill 
kinds of manna do not seem to possess the useful properties 
of the manna ash, which is the manna of European com- 
merce. The Austrahan Eiicalyi^tus riminalis exudes crumbs 
of an edibile manna, which is very sweet, and is used to pro- 
duce the opaque drops called honey-manna, or melitose. 
Of the edible manna lichens, Lccanora csciilania, and 
Lccanora tartarea, the coloring matter known as litmus is 
made. This kind of lichen is sometimes torn up and trans- 
ported by violent gusts of wind and falls in showers several 
inches thick. In 1S29, during the war between Persia and 
Russia, there was a great famine in Oroomiah, southwest 
of the Caspian Sea. "One day during a violent storm the 
surface of the country was co\-ered with lichens, which fell 
from the sky in sho\^-ers. The sheep immediately attacked 
and devoured it eagerly, which suggested to the inhabitants 
the idea of reducing it into flour and making bread of it, 
which was found to be palatable and nourishing." 
During the siege of Herat, there is mention made of a 
hail of manna which fell upon the city and provided the in- 
habitants with food. In April, 18tt6, in the government of 
\\'ilna. a rain of manna occurred, forming a layer upon the 
ground three or four inches thick. It was of grayish-white 
color, rather hard, irregular in form, inodorous and insipid. 
It is to be found in the Great Desert of Tartars-, on the 
steppes to the north of the Caspian Sea, in the Altai Range, 
in South America and in Algeria. — Indian Planting and 
Gardening. 
A SALAD FRUIT FROM TTiZ TROPICS. 
1 ^ ;es are improved, 
the number of fres":: .-1 from tropical 
