When cats smell catnip, it affects them like pheromones. It's quite amusing to watch. They really do go bonkers, rolling around like they're in heat.
(15-05-2017, 06:49 PM)Koen Gh. Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Liber Serapionis (aggregatus in medicinis simplicibus)?
edit: crossed your post, Marco. You may be right, though it might still be worth a look.
I have checked You are not allowed to view links.
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Nepita is at You are not allowed to view links.
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Login to view..It is discussed as a cure for poisons and as an abortive. There are no mentions of cats nor of cat-related names of the plant. The Trinity ms uses Nepitella to favor conception and to heal cough. Serapion's work is quite extensive and (as far as I can tell) strictly scientific.
Anyway, it's worth attempting more comparisons with this work, which also includes Arabic names for all plants.
I have also thought that the mystery monogram might be a V and refer to Arnaldus de Villanova. I have checked You are not allowed to view links.
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Hmmm. I read in Riddle's paper that Medieval authors who wished to write about plants would regularly do so under the name of a famous predecessor, since innovation was frowned upon. So I guess that even if the name Dioskorides or Isidore or... was meant, it could always be an unknown "pseudo's" version. Though this scenario might be unlikely.
One thing I've been trying, without success so far, is to see how the monogram compares to regularly used (word initial) capitals. This might help us determine which letter(s) is meant.
I'm not sure what's going on here, but it looks like "Indiascorides"
(f.66r middle of page)
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Also, there's a monogram on f.67r which, in my opinion, does not allow for the reading of "I or L + S" - I can only read this as a D
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attachment=1390]
(16-05-2017, 01:22 PM)Koen Gh. Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I'm not sure what's going on here, but it looks like "Indiascorides" (f.66r middle of page)
This long chapter is about Pentadactius / Ricinus illustrated in 66v. Starting from the line above the one you marked:
Item semen eius habet ??? | virtutem eundi invisibiliter secundum quod invenitur indiascorides qui | dicit si quis acceperit ix semina huius herbe et in mensse marcii inpone[?] | in capitem alicuius gatti[?] nigris[?] tota planta urit et intera posuerit | et cum semen ??? in illis seminibus inveniuntur iii semina quos dum in hore | huius non poteri videri ab alio.
"Its seed has [...] the virtue of going around invisibly, according to what is found in Dioscorides. He says that, if one takes nine sees of this plant in the month of March and places the whole plant [on the head of a black cat?] and burn it together with the seeds [...], among those seeds he will find three seeds such that, as long as they are kept in his mouth, he cannot be seen by anybody"
I am not sure of the bit about the black cat. Maybe I have read too many spells lately
The coincidence with the invisibility granted by You are not allowed to view links.
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Haha, I love these anecdotes. The link to the herb that you posted is indeed very clear. And this one has the advantage that you don't start farting uncontrollably if you swallow it by accident.
Wouldn't you say then that the mystery source is some "Dioskorides" version?
(16-05-2017, 01:22 PM)Koen Gh. Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Also, there's a monogram on f.67r which, in my opinion, does not allow for the reading of "I or L + S" - I can only read this as a D
Transcritpion (from just above the plant):
v sunt species huius herbe scabiose. de qualibus una vocatur | morsus demonis. {plant} quod demones fugat. dicitur morsus | demonis quod non habet {plant} radicem medianam. Et ista dicunt | scabiosa maior {plant} .Magnas virtutes habet occultas. | D. testatur quod propter amorem | cuiusdam mulieris in qua ipse intellige | bit quod demon cor rodit | Radicem magistram huius herbe. quod ipsa | mulier decepit ipsum demo | nem et noluit cum [eo] asaciari
Translation: there are five types of this Scabiosa plant, one of which is called Morsus Demonis [devil's-bit] because it makes devils flee. It is called devil's bit because it does not have the central root. This is called Greatest Scabiosa. It has many occult powers. D says that, for the love of a woman with whom he conversed, a devil gnawed away the main root of this plant, because the woman deceived that devil and did not want to unite with him.
Yes, I think the passages you collected strongly suggest that the "mystery source" is some medieval pseudo-Dioscorides.
There is apparently a wiki that mentions such plant names and this tale:
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A very conclusive example of the author's name is on the rather messy fol.96r
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I'm going to all the mystery source "Diascorides" from now on.
There's two more mentions on the verso side, where the text continues. It seems very interesting, but unfortunately it's way too much for me to comprehend. There seems to be talk of putting it in someone's clothes and "against your enemies" and "fantasmata" and....