The Voynich Ninja

Don,

I understand what you're saying. A list of ingredients from the 1400s would be the best option to use in making a comparison with what we might find in the VMs.  That would be the most logical choice. But unfortunately a list with good dating like that has not been found. All we have at present is a very early list and a second list that is somewhat too late. However, since this is a medical formulation, and this implies an attempt to reproduce the same compound with the same ingredients (as much as possible), then finding a particular substance in both lists would indicate an ingredient that is more likely common to all formulations. And there are a number of ingredients common to both lists. This may not be the preferred alternative, but there is still some logic to using that approach. It's the best that can be done with the information that is currently available.

Still considering medical formulations and discovered this.
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Certainly someone has looked at Nicander and his list of pharmaceutical ingredients before. And that list would be an interesting source for comparison with what might be present in the VMs, especially for those researching Hellenistic sources. However the Ninja search engine came up with a goose egg.

Any good sources or references? What can be said about Nicander??  [Nice muscles!?]

Still on my "to check" list

Strange to see the word plagiarized in an Oxford article about antiquity...

Kyphi is similar to theriac in that it has ancient roots (Egyptian) and is a combination of more than a dozen ingredients.

There's an article You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. that describes kyphi, which is a medicinal aromatic compound, and gives a list of the plants included (at the end):

An interesting manuscript about Theriac. Especially the plants are worth a look.




BNF, Arabe 2964, Kitāb al-Diryāq ( Traité de la thériaque ), 1198


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Intellectual Heritage in the Diagrams of the Paris Kitāb al-Driyāq ( You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. )