151

OF FOREST-TREES.

more worth than the land itself. There is extracted an oil from the Ash, chap .by the procefs on other woods, which is excellent to recover the hearing,some drops of it being distilled warm into the ears ; and for the cariesor rot of the bones, tooth-ach, pains in the kidneys and spleen, theanointing therewith is most sovereign 2 . Some have used the saw-dustof this wood, instead of guaiacum, with succefs. The chymists exceed-ingly commend the seed of Ash to be an admirable remedy for thestone : But (whether by the power of magic or nature, I determine not)

I have heard it affirmed with great confidence, and upon experience,that the rupture to which many children are obnoxious, is healed,by pafsing the infant through a wide cleft made in the bole or stemof a growing Ash-tree ; it is then carried a second time round the Ash,and caused to repafs the same aperture as before. The rupture of thechild being bound up, it is supposed to heal as the cleft of the tree closesand coalesces. The manna of Calabria is found to exsude out of theleaves and boughs of this tree during the hot summer months 8 : Lastly,

x As Mr. Evelyn does not profefs any knowledge in medicine, but on the contrary oftenmakes an apology for his ignorance in that science, I shall only remark, that the boastedproperties of the oil obtained from the Ash are not to be depended on, being onlyin common with oil obtained from any other tree. The curing a ruptured child, by pafsingits body through a cleft made in the bole of a young Ash-tree, has no foundation in reasonor philosophy.

a The Ash described by Mr. Miller, under the title of Fraxinus Rotundifalia , is said by himto be the tree from whence manna is procured; but we are now informed by Dr. DominicoCirilli, that it is the Fraxinus Ornus. The Doctor, in a letter addrefsed to Dr. Watson,and inserted in the sixtieth vd. of the Philosoph . Trans, says, “ The Manna-tree, commonly“ called Ornus by botanists, is a kind of Ash, and is to be found under the name•« of Fraxinus Ornus in Linnasus’s Sp. Plant. In all the woods near Naples the Manna-« tree is to be found very often, but, for want of cultivation, it never produces any manna,<( an( J is rather a shrub than a tree. The manna is generally of two kinds, not on accountsc 0 f the intrinsic quality of them being different, but because they are got in a different“ manner. In order to have the manna, those who have the management of the woods“ of the Orni, in the months of July and August, when the weather is very dry and warm,

make an oblong incision, and take off from the bark of the tree about three inches in“ length and two in breadth; they leave the wound open, and by degrees the manna runs“ out, and is almost suddenly thickened to its proper consistence, and is found adhering“ to the bark of the tree. This manna is collected in baskets, and goes under the name“ of Manna Gra/sa. When the people want to have a very fine manna, they apply to the“ incision of the bark, thin straw, or small bits of shrubs, so that the manna, in coming“ out, runs upon these bodies, and is .collected in a sort of regular tubes, which give it the“ name of Manna in Canncli ; that is, manna in tubes. This kind is always prefeired to the“ other, because it is free and clear.”