THE Liquid Manna is a white Manna that is glewy like white Honey; it is to be met with upon certain Plants garnish'd with Leaves of a whitish green, of the Size of that Weed that grows plentifully among their Vines in Persia, and about Aleppo and Grand Cairo, whither it is brought in Pots, and sold to the Inhabitants, who use it, as we do Calabrian Manna.
This Liquor is very rare in France. In the Year 1683, a Friend of mine who had been in Turkey, made me a Present of about four Ounces, which I keep to this Day, and which was, when given me, according to the Description I have made of it; but as Time destroys all Things, the Colour is chang'd to a grey, and it is become a Syrup of a good Consistence, and of a reddish brown; and that which is most remarkable, is, that the Taste is sweet, Sugar-like and pleasant, and that it is not turn'd Sharp.
There is to be met with, besides, in the Asia major, upon several Trees like the Oak, a liquid Manna, especially near Ormus, whence it is brought into the Towns in Goat Skins, where they make so considerable a Trade of it as to transport it to Goa: This Manna is of the same Figure and Colour with the former, only that it will not keep so long.
Manna is a white or yellowish concrete Juice, which inclines much to the Nature of Sugar or Honey, melting or dissolving easily in Water, of a sweet, Honey-Taste, and a faint weak Smell; it flows either with Incision, or without, in the Nature of a Gum, from the Trunk and large Branches and Leaves of the Ash-Tree, both wild and cultivated.
The finest and most pure Manna flows without Incision in June and July, when the Sun is the hottest; it drops in crystalline or fine transparent Tears, almost like Gum Mastich, some larger and some less, according to the Nature of the Soil and the Trees that it grows upon. In a Day's Time it hardens by the Heat and grows white, unless it happen to rain that Day, for then it is all spoil'd. They take it from the Place when it is condens'd, and dry it in the Sun again, to render it whiter and fitter for Carriage.
The second Sort of Manna is taken from the same Trees in August and September. When the Heat of the Sun begins to decrease, then they make Incisions into the Bark of the Ash-Trees, and there flows a Juice which condenses into Manna, as the first Sort; there runs a greater Quantity than the first, but it is yellower and less pure; they remove it from the Tree and dry it in the Sun. In rainy or dripping Years, they make very little Manna from the Trees; because it liquefies and spoils by the Wet, which is the Reason that some Years the Manna is dearer than others. Pomet distinguishes Manna into three Sorts, which have been describ'd in their proper Places.
When Manna is kept it loses much of its Beauty, and does not lose a little of its Virtue. Several People believe that the older it is the more purgative it grows, which I cannot at all understand, and therefore advise you not to use the red or brown decay'd and soft Manna, which sometimes you meet with at the Druggists, but take the purest you can meet with: It is a gentle Purger and proper for the Head, from an Ounce to two Ounces. The Word Manna comes from the Hebrew Word Man, which signifies a Kind of Bread, or something to eat; for it has been received among the Antients, that the Manna was a Dew of the Air condens'd upon certain Calabrian Plants, resembling that which God rained down upon the Israelites in the Desart for Food.