01-01-2026, 05:03 PM
A couple of observations on this topic, if that's OK?
1. What the drawing immediately reminds me of is an alembic still, such as this one, perhaps with a set of bellows at the base:
![[Image: Alambik1.jpg]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Alambik1.jpg)
A still could perhaps suggest a link to alchemy or the distillation of medicines and other products from herbs? Does anyone know when the alembic came into use in Europe?
2. The suggestion that this was a depiction of the intestines of a goat struck me as bizarre, until I remembered that the words in the marginalia just to the right of the image possibly/probably read "pox leber". So, maybe not so outlandish a suggestion?
1. What the drawing immediately reminds me of is an alembic still, such as this one, perhaps with a set of bellows at the base:
A still could perhaps suggest a link to alchemy or the distillation of medicines and other products from herbs? Does anyone know when the alembic came into use in Europe?
2. The suggestion that this was a depiction of the intestines of a goat struck me as bizarre, until I remembered that the words in the marginalia just to the right of the image possibly/probably read "pox leber". So, maybe not so outlandish a suggestion?