166 
HISTORICAL  NOTES  ON  MANNA. 
Contemporary  with  Saladinus  lived  Giovanni  Gioviano  Pontano 
(A.  D.  1426 — 1503),  a  celebrated  historian,  statesman,  philoso- 
pher and  poet.  Among  his  numerous  writings  is  a  work  entitled 
Liber  3£eteororum,  in  which  there  is  a  poem  headed  De  Pruind, 
et  More,  et  Maiind ;  this  effusion  notices  in  very  circumstantial 
terms  the  collection  of  manna  by  the  peasants  on  the  banks  of 
the  Crati  in  Calabria,  describing  the  production  of  the  drug  in 
language  which  may  be  rendered  thus  : 
*  *  *  «  There  in  the  middle  of  summer,  under  a  burning  sun,  while 
heat  prevails  and  the  cloven  earth  gapes — when  no  breeze  is  stirring,  and 
the  humid  air  is  still,  it  [the  manna]  gradually  exudes,  and,  condensed  as 
a  viscid  fluid,  runs  into  drops  and  thickens  on  the  thirsty  leaves — and, 
further  hardened  by  successive  suns,  it  acquires  the  appearance  of  wax, 
and  the  taste  of  honey.  Such  as  the  bees  obtain  by  their  instinctive  art 
and  mutual  aid,  this,  nature  produces  for  the  medicinal  use  of  mankind." 
I  subjoin  the  passage  in  a  foot-note.* 
In  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  flourished  Raffaele 
Mafiei,  called  also  Yolaterranus,  a  learned  and  voluminous 
writer,  who  among  other  works  has  left  one  entitled  Commentarii 
Urbani,  in  which  we  find  a  sentence  in  the  following  words  if 
*'  Manna  nostra  setate  ccepit  in  Calabria  provenire  :  licet  orientali  in- 
ferior." 
*  Quinetiam  Calabris  in  saltibus,  ac  per  opacum 
Labitur  ingenti  Orathis,  qua  coerulus  alveo, 
Quaque  etiam  Syriis  sylvse  convallibus  horrent 
Felices  sylvae,  quarum  de  fronde  liquescunt 
Divini  roris  latices,  quos  sedula  passim 
Turba  legit,  gratum  auxilium  languentibus  segris. 
Illic  estate  in  media,  sub  sole  furenti  * 
Dum  regnat  calor  et  terrse  fiduntur  hiantes 
•Jfr  -H-  *  *  *  * 
Cum  nullse  spirant  aurse,  et  silet  humidus  aer 
Contrahitur  paulatira,  et  lento  humore  coactus 
In  guttas  abit,  et  foliis  sitientibus  hserens 
Lentescit,  rursumque  diurno  a  sole  recoctus 
Induit  et  speciem  cerae,  mellisque  saporem. 
Quodque  et  apes  prsestant  arte,  ingenitoque  favore 
Hoc  medicos  natura  hominum  producit  in  usus. 
Pontani  Opera,  Yenet.  1513,  Lib.  Meteor,  p.  113. 
•j- Yollaterranus  (Eaph.)  Comment.  TJrhann^  Paris,  1515,  foL,  lib.  38,  f. 
413.    I  have  not  been  able  to  consult  an  earlier  edition  of  his  works,  pub- 
ished,  it  is  said,  at  Rome,  in  1506. 
