The record-union., 1897-04-16
WAS THIS THE MAMMA?
A Miracle is Claimed to be Solved by
German BOtan:St.

planned on scientific grounds by an
eminent German botanist. He is An
ton kerner van Marilaun, professor of
botany in the University of Vienna.
III his Natural History of Plants"
just published, this scientist advances a
plausible theory to explain just how the
mamma that fed the starving Israelites
fell from the sky, where it came from
and what it was like. The description
of this miracle in the Bible is found
in the sixteenth chapter of Exodus, as
follows:
Then said the Lord unto Moses, Be
hold, / will rain bread from heaven for
you; and the people shall go out and
gather certain rate every day, that 1
will prove them whether they VIII walk
in my law or no.
The Bible goes on to relate how the
Israelites gathered this mamma and fed
upon it day after day, how it saved
them from starvation and how if kept
over night it decomposed. A fresh sup
ply was sent them every morning and
Moses taught his followers how 10 bake
it TO preserve it for the Sabbath
Biblical scholars have long regarded
this as enc of the most remarkable
miracles in Holy Writ.
Now, however, comes this German
bot2nist, who asserts that the mama
which few the Israelites was nothing
more nor less than edible lichen fre-
quently found in that part of the COun-
try at the very season when the Bible
miracle was alleged to have occurred
Professor Won Marilaun says that this
lichen in three species is found spread
over an enormous region in Southwest
Asia. and extending as far as the
southeast Of Europe and the north of
Africa
1T forms,' says Professor Won Mari
laun, thick, wrinkled and warted
crusts on the stones, preferably on
small fragments or limestone; the outer
color of the crust is grayish yellow
while on breaking it appears IS white
as crushed grain of corn.
AS they get older the crusts become
rent and separate either partially or
wholly from their substratum, to which
they We're only lightly attached by
root-like fringes. When they first be-
come l0osened the edges of the de-
tached portion become somewhat rolled
back. The rolling then continues, and
ultimately the loosened piece forms an
elliptical or spherical warted body
with a very much contracted central
cavity
AS a rule the hole is filled with air.
and when dried the pieces weigh very
little. 1t is easy to see that the loose
portions Will be rolled about by the
wind, ard that a storm viii sometimes
sweep them up from the ground and
carry them hither and thither through
the air
In rainy seasons the mamma -Hchen
is also washed by rivulets into the de-
pressions in the steppes, and in some
years in such quantities that they form
heaps a span high, and one man can
in a day collect about 1900 to 10000
pieces, varying in size from a pea to a
hazel nut. This is ESPECIALLY the case
in the steppes region and in the high
lands of Southwest Asia, where the
manna-lichen is used as a substitute
for corn in years of famine, being
ground in the same way and baked into
a species of bread All the great So
called rains of mama of which news
has come from the East to Europe. oc-
Cured at the beginning of the year, be-
tween January and March-that is. at
the time of the heaviest rains
This German scientist also mentions
the fact that prodigous quantities of
this mamma fell in one night in 1919 in
the neighborhood of Erzeroum in Ar
menia- In 1923 the naturalist, Parrot,
secured specimens which had descend
ed from the sky in Persia and which
had covered the ground to a depth of
six inches, and when Gobel analyzed
these he asserted that they had been
carried by electrical storms from dis
| tant localities
In January, 1916 at Jenischehir. in
the west of Asia Minor, during a time
Of famine, a similar fall took place. 1t
lasted some days, and the pieces of
| lichen We're of the size of hazel nuts.
They were ground into -four. the bread
from which was pronounced little in
ferior to wheat bread
In the year 1917 a report was made by
General Jussuf, the commander of the
| French troops, to the Governor of AL
giers, on the subject of an edible lichen
spread over large portion of the Sa-
hara and the Algerian plateaux which
he said had been a sustenance to the
troops during the campaign, especially
| as provender for the horses. It was
named chlorangium jussuni, but has
! been identified by lichenologists as le-
canora esculenta.
Upon being analysed this mama has
| been found to contain more than % per
cent of CXalate of lime, with % per cent
| Of amylaceous matter allied to starch.
| of which Iceland moss, the food of the
| reindeer. is largely composed 1t has
been said that very small quantities of
| this mama have been found in recent
years III the region traversed by the
| Israelites, but Professor Won Marilaun
points out the fact that vegetation in
the surrounding country which would
encourage the growth of the mama has
/ been ruthlessly destroyed by the Be-
douins chiefly for the manufacture of
| charcoal.
AT the time of the wanderngs of the
lsraelites vast tamarisk forests extend
| ed over regions which are now desolate.
| The miracle is believed to have occurred
after the Israelites had taken their
| journey from Elm and had come into
| the Wilderness of Sin on the 10Th day of
the second month after their departure
from Egypt. This would correspond
with the Waidy Table, the most north
ern point where the mamma is found and
| the time after the passage of the Red
Sea comedies accurately with the season
when the mamma is first observed in the
| Wady Feiran.-New York Journal
J Special Notice.
| Tomorrow night our store will be
kept open until 10 O'Clock The Model,
Sixth and K