162 
HISTORICAL  NOTES  ON  MANNA. 
preceded  by  a  period  of  excitement.  It  never  causes  nausea, 
vertigo,  headache,  or  constipation,  but,  on  the  contrary,  tends  to 
reduce  these  symptoms.  It  generally  acts  slowly,  about  four  to 
seven  hours  after  administration.  It  may  be  given  subcutane- 
ously  in  the  form  of  hydrochlorate.  Dr.  Stark  fully  confirms 
these  observations  ;  he  administers  it  in  doses  of  1  to  2  grains 
by  h^^podermic  injection,  and  considers  it  to  be  constant  and 
simple  in  its  action. — C.  H.  Wood,  F.O.S.,  in  Pharm.  Jour., 
London,  Dec,  1869. 
HISTORICAL  NOTES  ON  MANNA. 
By  Daniel  Hanbury,  F.R.S.* 
Whatever  was  the  true  nature  of  the  substance  provided  for 
the  sustenance  of  the  ancient  Israelites  and  termed  by  them 
Manna,  that  name  has  in  subsequent  ages  been  used  to  designate 
certain  saccharine  exudations  produced  in  hot  countries  upon  the 
stems,  branches  or  leaves  of  trees,  shrub,  or  herbaceous  plants, 
belonging  to  various  families.  Thus  in  the  peninsula  of  Sinai, 
a  sweet  substance  called  manna  is  exuded  by  a  species  of  tama- 
risk ;  in  Persia,  a  manna  is  produced  by  a  small,  thorny,  legumi- 
nous plant,  known  to  botanists  as  Alhagi  Maurorum ;  and  in 
Kurdistan,  an  evergreen-oak  affords  an  analogous  product.  These 
substances  have  from  a  remote  period  been  employed  as  food  or 
medicine,  and  they  are  still  found,  though  in  small  quantities,  in 
the  bazaars  of  the  East.  The  Cedar  of  Lebanon,  the  Larch,  a 
Oistus,  and  certain  Australian  species  of  Eucalyptus  likewise 
yield,  at  certain  seasons,  saccharine  exudations  in  more  or  less 
abundance ;  and  those  derived  from  the  cedar  and  larch  have 
occasionally  been  collected  for  use. 
The  manna  of  modern  times  is  well  known  to  have  a  very  dif- 
ferent origin,  being  a  product  obtained  in  considerable  abundance 
from  the  stems  and  branches  of  a  species  of  ash,  cultivated  in 
Calabria  and  Sicily.  With  this  manna,  Europe  is  wholly  sup- 
plied, and  it  likewise  finds  its  way  into  the  markets  of  the  East. 
During  some  conversation  last  summer  with  my  friend  Dr. 
FlUckiger  of  Berne,  he  drew  my  attention  to  this  curious  fact, — 
that  in  the  early  history  of  Sicily,  no  mention  is  made  of  manna 
*  From  the  Author's  revised  reprint  from  Pharm.  Journ.,  London. 
