Manna, in our version of the Bible, is a term applied to the food that
God gave the Israelites in the wilderness. But what we now call manna,
is a saccharine substance that exudes from the bark of a species of
ash-tree found in the southern parts of Europe, and especially in Sicily
and Calabria. At the warmest season, the tree most abounds in sap, and,
accordingly, in August, the people make incisions into the bark. These
are two inches long horizontally, and half an inch in depth. On
incision, the manna immediately begins to flow, at first in the form of
water, but it gradually becomes thicker. A leaf is inserted into the
incision, which conducts the juice into a vessel placed at the foot of
the tree. The liquor does not harden till it has remained some time. It
has an unpleasant taste, but after the watery parts have evaporated, it
is sweeter, but slightly nauseous. Manna is used in medicine as a mild
aperient. It differs remarkably from common sugar, in not being
susceptible of what is called vinous fermentation; so that if mixed with
common sugar and yeast, and subjected to the process of fermentation,
while the sugar is converted into alcohol, the manna remains unaltered
in the liquor.
[Illustration: Continental Money]