MANNA  OF  SINAI,  AND  MANNA  OF  SYRIA. 
73 
2d.  Manna  of  Kurdistan. 
The  specimen  was  given  to  me  by  M.  L.  Soubeiran  ;  it  had 
been  sent  to  Paris  by  Dr.  Gaillardot.    It  had  been  gathered  on 
the  mountains  of  Kurdistan,  to  the  N.  E.  of  Mossoul.  Sub- 
joined is  the  information  on  this  subject  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  M.  Gaillardot  by  M.  Barre  de  Lancy,  then  Chancellor  to  the 
Consulate  of  France  at  Mossoul.    This  manna  "  falls  without 
distinction  on  every  plant  in  July  and  August,  but  not  every 
year ;  there  has  been  very  little  for  the  last  three  years.     It  is 
gathered  by  cutting  the  branches,  which  are  left  to  dry  for  two 
or  three  days  in  the  sun,  when  they  are  shaken,  and  the  manna 
is  obtained,  which  falls  like  dust.    The  Kurds  use  it  without 
purifying  it.    They  mix  it  with  dough,  and  even  with  meat." 
The  matter  presents  itself  under  the  form  of  a  pasty  mass, 
almost  solid,  impregnated  with  vegetable  matter,  and  especially 
with  the  leaves  of  the  nut-gall  tree.    It  contains  cane  sugar, 
interverted  sugar,  dextrine,  water,  and,  lastly,  a  small  quantity 
of  green  waxy  matter.     This  is  the  composition  of  the  part 
soluble  in  water: — 
Cane  sugar,       ......  61. 
Interverted  sugar  (levulose  and  glucose),  .  16-5 
Dextrine  and  analogous  substances,       .     .  22-5 
100-0 
From  the  preceding  results,  we  see  that  the  manna  of  Sinai 
and  that  of  Kurdistan  are  essentially  composed  of  cane  sugar, 
dextrine,  and  the  products  of  the  alteration,  without  doubt,  of 
these  two  principles.  Their  composition  is  almost  identical,  a 
result  the  more  singular,  because  the  plants  which  produce  these 
two  mannas  belong  to  two  extremely  different  species.  Never- 
theless, this  phenomenon  is  not  without  analogy.  Thus  we 
know,  that  the  honey  gathered  by  bees  from  very  different 
flowers  possesses  a  composition  almost  identical.  This  is  not 
the  only  comparison  which  may  be  made  between  honey  and  the 
manna  in  question.  Not  only  do  insects  concur  equally  in  the 
formation  of  honey  and  that  of  the  manna  of  Sinai',  but  further, 
this  manna,  as  well  as  honey,  is  composed  of  cane  sugar  and 
interverted  sugar;  the  manna  of  Sinai'  contains  beyond  this, 
dextrine,  and  the  products  of  its  alteration. 
