152 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
into heaps by the wind.* It is generally considered to be the 
manna of the Israelites (Exod. 16 ch., 14, et seg.) and is used 
in parable by Jesus, (John 6 ch. 31). “Our fathers did eat 
manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from 
heaven to eat.” . 
A critical study of the narrative in Exodus, 16 ch., and 
Numb. 11 ch., raises the question of whether there were not 
two sorts of manna. The tree manna, a sugary secretion exud- 
ing from insect punctures on the tamarisk tree (Fraxinus), and 
which under the name “Manna” is included in our Pharmaco- 
poeia; and the lichen abovementioned. We read (Exo. 16 ch., 
21) that “when the sun waxed hot, it melted,” and in verse 31 
“the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.’ Both these 
descriptions tally with the tamarisk secretion, while the account 
in Numb. 11 ch., 8, where “the people ground it in mills, or 
beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: 
and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil’ clearly in- 
dicates the lichen form. It may be mentioned that though the 
scene of the manna occurrence is now a dreary desert there is 
evidence that this was not the case then, but that a luxuriant 
growth of trees, including the tamarisk, and other herbage, 
flourished. We know that the Israelites were able to maintain 
large flocks and herds. 
Mustard. There can be no doubt, I think, that the plant 
known to us as mustard (Synapis nigra), is not the plant re- 
ferred to in our Lord’s parable (Matt. 13 ch., 31-32). “A 
grain of mustard seed . . . . which is indeed the least of all 
seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and 
becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge 
in the branches thereof.” The other evangelists give the narra- 
tive in similar terms. Christ’s description answers well for a 
tall tree allied to the olive Salvidora Persica, which grows freely 
in different parts of Palestine, and the seeds of which are 
called “Chardal” the Arabic for mustard. When ground they 
are used as such. 
Wormwood (Artemisia monosperma) a native of Palestine. 
The Hebrew word laanah is a term applied to any bitter herb 
and more particularly to A. monosperma a plant noted for its 
bitter taste. This plant is commonly grown in cottage gardens 
in Britain where it is popularly called “Southernwood.” In Aus- 
tralia it is known by the same name and also as “old man.” 
The plant is used symbolically (Deut. 29 ch., 18) “lest 
*See article by E. Cheel—Aust. Nat. iii., 122. 
