Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1897. 
California  Manna. 
331 
falls  with  the  dew,  which  congeals  and  hardens  on  the  leaves  of  the 
reeds41  {roseaux)  from  which  it  is  gathered.  I  have  tasted  it. 
It  is  a  little  darker  than  sugar,  but  has  all  its  sweetness." 
Endeavoring  to  identify  Father  Picolo's  manna,  the  following 
reference  to  manna-like  bodies  (false  mannas)  was  noted  in  the  U.  S. 
Dispensatory,  17th  Ed.,  Philadelphia,  1894,  p.  850,  which,  however, 
are  not  the  same  manna  as  that  of  Picolo. 
"  American  False  Manna.  A  substance  resembling  manna,  of  a 
sweet,  slightly  bitter,  and  terebinthinate  taste,  and  actively  purga- 
tive, exudes  from  incisions  in  Pinus  Lambertiana  of  Oregon,  and  is 
used  by  the  natives."    (Nar.  of  U.  S.  Expl.  Exp.,  v.  232.) 
"  M.  Berthelot  has  abstracted  from  this  product  a  peculiar  saccha- 
rine principle  which  he  calls  'pinite.'"  (See  A.  J.  P.,  vol.  28, p.  157.) 
The  strongly  cathartic  properties  of  this  manna  of  the  pinus  and 
its  resemblance  to  manna  are  emphasized  in  the  following  descrip- 
tion of  this  substance : 
I.  Wilkes,  Narrative  of  the  U.  S.  Exploring  Exped.,  Philadelphia, 
1850,  Vol.  5. 
P.  232.  Speaking  of  the  Pinus  Lambertiana,  which  they  found 
frequently  when  crossing  the  Umpgua  Mountains  in  Southern  Ore- 
gon. "  Some  of  the  sugar  produced  by  this  tree  was  obtained ;  it 
is  of  a  sweet  taste,  with  a  slightly  bitter  and  piny  flavor ;  it  resem- 
bles manna,  and  is  obtained  by  the  Indians  by  burning  a  cavity  in 
the  tree,  whence  it  exudes.    It  is  gathered  in  large  quantities. 
"  This  sugar  is  a  powerful  cathartic,  and  affected  all  the  party  who 
partook  of  it ;  yet  it  is  said  that  it  is  used  as  a  substitute  for  sugar 
among  the  trappers  and  hunters." 
II.  John  S.  Newberry,  botanist  in  charge  of  the  U.  S.  Pacific  R.  R. 
Surveys,  California  and  Oregon.  Botanical  Report,  1855,  p.  44.  On 
the  Pinus  Lambertiana,  the  Sugar  Pine. 
"  The  resin  of  the  sugar  pine  is  less  abundant  than  that  of  the 
P.  ponderosa ;  is  white  or  transparent  like  that  of  P.  strobus. 
"That  which  exudes  from  partially  burnt  trees,  for  the  most  part, 
loses  its  terebinthine  taste  and  smell,  and  acquires  a  sweetness 
nearly  equal  to  that  of  sugar. 
"This  sugar  gives  the  tree  its  name,  and  is  sometimes  used  for 
4  Roseaux,  in  the  original  Lettres  edipantes,  etc.,  Tome  V,  p.  264,  Kip's  trans- 
lation, is  literal,  as  we  have  verified  from  the  original  letter. — J.  U.  h. 
