64 
Cdlabrian  Manna. 
f  Am.  Joer.  Pharm. 
\    Feb.  1,1873., 
coming  from  eye-witnesses,  or  at  least  from  inquiries  on  the  spot. 
Let  me  now  add  a  few  observations  of  my  own,  the  result  of  a  short 
journey  during  the  present  year,  through  a  portion  of  the  province 
of  Calabria  Citra. 
First,  when  at  Florence,  I  inquired  for  (Jalahrian  Manna,  address- 
ing myself  to  the  principal  firm  of  wholesale  druggists  in  that  city. 
The  answer  I  got  was  that  Calabrian  manna  was  an  article  they 
never  purchased ;  but  that  if  I  wished  to  see  the  drug  it  was  possible, 
as  it  so  happened  that  a  small  keg  of  it  had  been  sent  to  them  for 
disposal.  Of  this  offer  I  availed  myself.  I  found  to  my  surprise 
that  the  drug  was  a  soft  viscid  mass  containing  small  tears,  mixed 
with  fragments  of  leaves,  sticks  and  dirt, — in  fact,  I  regarded  it  of 
such  very  bad  quality,  that  I  declined  a  sample  which  was  kindly 
offered  me.  1  thought  also  that  if  I  travelled  into  Calabria  I  should 
easily  obtain  much  better,  as  well  as  all  desired  particulars  respect- 
ing the  trade  in  manna,  of  which,  according  to  the  latest  edition  (1868) 
of  Murray's  Handbook  for  Southern  Italy,  Calabria  Citra  is  the  "  prin- 
cipal seat."    I  accordingly  proceeded  southward. 
Around  Florence,  I  may  remark,  and  especially  between  that  city 
and  Pisa,  the  manna  ash  (Fraxinus  Ornus,  L.)  is  frequent,  being  one 
of  the  small  low  trees  grown  as  a  support  for  the  vine.  Except  these 
examples,  I  hardly  saw  the  tree  until  I  reached  the  shores  of  the 
Gulf  of  Taranto,  when  I  observed  some  very  tall  specimens  in  the 
strip  of  humid  forest  a  little  south  of  Policoro. 
Journeying  onward  I  arrived  at  Rossano,  a  town  in  Calabria  Citra, 
of  about  10,000  inhabitants,  situated  three  or  four  miles  from  the 
sea.  Here  I  learnt  that  the  manna  trees,  which  are  called  Ornelli, 
grow  on  some  of  the  adjacent  mountains, — that  they  are  of  large 
size,  and  are  not  cultivated, — that  manna  is  obtained  from  them  by 
incisions  in  the  trunk  made  by  the  peasants  in  July  and  August, — 
that  the  manna  got  is  mostly  of  the  soft  or  fatty  kind,  very  little  of 
it  being  obtained  in  long  white  pieces  or  cannoli,  and  in  some  seasons 
none  at  all. 
The  collecting  of  manna  about  Rossano  is  at  present,  I  was  as- 
sured, a  very  small  and  insignificant  branch  of  industry.  Few  per- 
sons among  those  from  whom  I  sought  information  knew  anything 
of  the  gathering  of  manna,  or  even  of  the  existence  of  the  manna-ash 
in  the  neighborhood.  One  gentleman,  a  principal  inhabitant  of  the 
town,  and  holding  an  official  position,  to  whom  I  had  a  letter  of  in- 
