Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-07-07
mANNA--wHAT WAS IT ?


Botanists and trssvelershave been rath-
er unsuccessful in attempts to ascertain
1 the origin Of different kinds OF mama
known in commerce. In the Valley OF
/ GOhr, TO the south Of the Dead Sea, six
teen hours onward which leads into q
long valley, Buckhardt found what he
called mama, dropping from twigs OF
several kinds Of trees.
According to his representations Arabs
! collect it and make it into cakes, which
are eaten with their nAUseOus butter
made from the milk Of sheep. They
! ehurn it thus: A goat skin is filled with
milk and suspended between two poles,
swung to and fro by pulling an attached
cord until il assumes a new characters
greasy, sOapy masJ-and that is Arab
butter.
Commercial mama, principally in the
hands of druggists, is a product Of the
punctured stems of the Ornts HtiTOpoo,
growing in Calabria. An article very
similar in appearance and medical prop
critics is procured in Sicily by the same
kind ~ofprocess. Both have a sweetish
taste, are soft, ola pale, yellowish color,
and used for their mild laxative quality
rather than food.
From the foregoing facts, it is very
clear there Is not the slightest resem-
blance to that extraordinary nutrieiOus
! article which was miracul0usly provided
for the children Of IsreRl in = barren
wilderness, on a memorable occasion,
while in their forty years peregTinstion
toward the Promised Land.
In tile sixteenth chapter Of Exodus ii
is recorded;
And when the dew that lay on the
ground was gone up, behold upon the
face of the wilderness there lay a small
round thing as small as the hOar frost on
the ground.
And Moses saidthis Is the bread which
the Lord hath given you TO eat. This is
the thing which the Lord hath COM
manded. Gather Of it every man &C.
cording to his eating, an omar three
quarts) for every man, according to
the number OF your persons, take
We every man for them which are in his
tent.
Andthe children of Isreal did 50, and
gathered some more and some less
And when they did meet it with an
omar, he that gathered little had no
lack; they gathered every man accord
ing to his eating.
And Moses said, let no man leave of
it till morning. Notwithstanding they
hearkened not unto Moses, but some OF
them left Of it till morning, and it bred
worms and stank, and Moses was wroth
with them. rHs
And they gathered every morning,
every man according TO his eating, and
when the sun waxed hot il melted.
And it came 70 pass that on the sixth
day they gathered twice Is much bread
two omars for one man-and all the
rulers of the congregation came and told
Moses.
And Moses said, "Eat that to-day, for
to-day is the Sabbath unto the Lord To-
day We shall not find ii in the field. Six
days ye shall gather ii, but on the sew
enth day, which is the Sabbath, in it
there shall be none.p
And the house of Israel called the same
mamma, and it was like coriander seed,
white, and the taste-ofit was like waters
made of honey
1t is obvious, therefore, mama of a
vegetable origin bears ITO resemblance to
that on which an immense multitude Of
human beings subsisted for considerable
time, under circumstances which point
to one of the most remarkable events in
the whole ranpe OF sacred history. Sci
ence stands still in contemplation Of that
~stupendous miracle.