PULVIS CRETiE AROMATICUS AND LAX AMYGDAL/E AMAR^E. 331 
ascribed the fall of manna described in the Book of Exodus to a species of lichen, 
the Lichenora esculentci. Although he could not agree with this conclusion, the 
paper was one well worthy of their attention. 
Mr. Haselden (Vice-President) was also of opinion that the subject did not 
admit of much discussion. He thought, however, it was worthy of remark that 
now-a-days the value of manna did not seem to be appreciated. When he was 
an apprentice it was very common to sell manna by the oz. or y lb. to be used 
as an adjunct to the daily food of children, or as an addition to the then every- 
day prescription of a black draught. Physicians now seemed to think black 
draughts undesirable, and for manna, consequently there was scarcely any de¬ 
mand ; indeed, almost its only use was in making up calomel pills, for which 
purpose it was about the best thing one could use. 
The President inquired if Mr. Hanbury had ever met with artificial manna 
having the external crystalline appearance of the best manna, but which closer 
inspection showed to be made up. Not long since he had seen a specimen which 
came, he believed, from France, and as far as he could understand, it was made 
by dissolving the common small manna, evaporating it down to a certain degree 
of dryness, and then running it into moulds, which gave it the appearance of 
fine flaky manna. 
Mr. Hanbury said he had heard of artificial manna, but had never met with 
such a thing. It seemed to him, however, that it would be impossible to imitate 
the stratification of a natural exudation like manna, so as to avoid detection. 
Mr. Morson said he was rather surprised at hearing the question put by the 
President, but by going back about forty years, he thought he could give the 
history of the artificial manna. When he was a student in Paris, an assistant 
who lived w r ith him in the house of one of the editors of the ‘Pharmaceutical 
Journal’ took it into his head to manufacture manna, aud he succeeded most 
wonderfully. He first made a syrup from the commonest kind of manna, and 
crystallized it, but there then arose the difficulty how to produce the beautiful, 
brilliant appearance of fine manna, which he got over by running into a mould 
made from the stump of a tree, and the result would almost defy detection. It 
was frequently rather dark coloured, but a little charcoal got rid of that. He 
was not in the secret, but he was not quite sure whether a little sugar might not 
have been added. However, he produced the most beautiful crystalline manna, 
which he sold at a good profit, the manufacture being carried on in some of the 
old quarries of Paris, which formed a kind of laboratory under the shop in the 
Champs Elysees. The inventor afterwards went to Hayti, and then to New 
Orleans, where he published several papers of a scientific character. 
NOTE UPON PULVIS CEET^ ABOMATICUS AND 
LAC AMYGDALAE AM AIDE. 
BY A. F. HASELDEN, VICE-PRESIDENT. 
The observations which I am about to make are of so simple a character, that 
they seem almost to require an apology, but in speaking for myself, a worker in 
pharmacy con amove, very small matters become interesting when looked at 
from a pharmaceutical point of view, and this will probably apply to many 
others. As long ago as 1860, a correspondent in the ‘Pharmaceutical Journal’ 
suggested what he considered an improved method of making aromatic confec¬ 
tion, now described in the P. B. as Pulvis Cretse Aromaticus. His suggestion was 
to make an infusion of the saffroD, evaporate the liquor to a syrupy consistence, 
then mix it with the dry chalk, afterwards adding the other ingredients; he also 
proposed the employment of the essential oils of cloves and nutmegs in place of 
z 2 
