AnMJa?ch,f89f.rm'}    Volatile  Oil  from  Canada  Balsam.  135 
rine,  followed  by  slight  acidity.  The  Khergese  use  it  for  various 
kinds  of  sweetmeats.  The  inhabitants  collect  these  exudations  and 
make  them  into  loaves  or  cakes.  These  soon  become,  of  a  black 
color,  owing  to  a  kind  of  fermentation,  produced  by  the  air  and 
moisture.  The  flavor  of  these  manna  loaves  resembles  that  of  senna 
in  taste  ;  they  also  resemble  senna  combined  with  sweetness  These 
two  characters  lead  one  to  suppose  that  this  manna  is  more  purga- 
tive than  nutritive.  Some  authors,  as  Halle  and  Guillamin,  state 
that  this  constituted  the  manna  of  the  Hebrews,  but  it  is  more  gen- 
erally supposed  that  the  Lecanora  affinis,  Eversm,  was  the  sub- 
stance upon  which  the  Israelites  fed  in  the  wilderness. 
Some  kinds  of  manna  are  obtained  in  Kurdistan  from  the  dwarf 
oak,  tamarisk,  and  other  trees,  but  are  seldom  met  with  in  com- 
merce, being  used  up  locally. 
A  krnd  of  manna  is  found  in  small  quantities  on  the  branches  of 
the  cedar  of  Lebanon,  in  the  form  of  transparent,  resinous  drops, 
indubitably  the  result  of  the  puncture  of  an  insect,  like  the  lerp  of 
Australia.  The  monks  collect  this  manna  and  prepare  with  it  va- 
rious electuaries  and  ointments,  which  are  sold  to  strangers  visiting 
the  monasteries.  This  cedar  manna  enjoys  a  considerable  reputa- 
tion in  Syria  as  a  remedy  in  phthisis. 
The  imports  of  manna  into  the  United  States  were  as  follows  : 
in  1888,  31,703  pounds;  in  1889,  25,246  pounds;  and  in  1890, 
43,509  pounds. 
{To  be  continued.) 
VOLATILE  OIL  FROM  CANADA  BALSAM.  
By  Herman  h.  Emmerich. 
CONTRIBUTION  III. 
The  oil  of  Canada  balsam  [Abies  balsamea,  Miller)  has  been 
examined  by  several  students  of  this  laboratory  during  the  past 
few  years.1  The  material  with  which  Mr.  Kressin  worked,  in  the 
spring  of  1892,  has  been  standing  untouched  for  the  past  two  years. 
Upon  the  examination  of  the  bottles  containing  the  fractions  men- 
tioned by  him,  a  number  of  observations  were  made  which  invited 
further  examination. 
1  I,  was  published  by  Mr.  Kressin.  Proc.  Wisconsin  Thar.  Assoc.  1893,  66, 
II,  Carl  G.  Hunkel,  Am.  Jour.  Phar.    67,  9. 
