12-05-2017, 11:16 PM
I was reading a bit about the number of plant species described by early botanists.
Some later owner numbered all plants in the MS, and got to 1150. At first sight, these numbers are reliable. But even if we allow for some mistakes and some double plant entries, there's still easily a thousand plants in this MS.
Now compare to the following quote:
It is estimated that in antiquity, at the time of the Romans 1,300 - 1,400 different plant species were known. Even closely related plants could be distinguished, although the arbitrary naming gave way to many errors and misunderstandings. From now on any scientific activity stagnated for centuries. Source: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Now if you consider the first section, you get what you'd expect from a decent sized herbal. The middle section is an exciting expansion. But then there's an 800 additional plants! How to explain this?
Is the last section fictional?
Adapted from an unknown older source?
Translated from a foreign document?
Whichever of those answers is true, it could be interesting to Voynich studies.
Some later owner numbered all plants in the MS, and got to 1150. At first sight, these numbers are reliable. But even if we allow for some mistakes and some double plant entries, there's still easily a thousand plants in this MS.
Now compare to the following quote:
It is estimated that in antiquity, at the time of the Romans 1,300 - 1,400 different plant species were known. Even closely related plants could be distinguished, although the arbitrary naming gave way to many errors and misunderstandings. From now on any scientific activity stagnated for centuries. Source: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Now if you consider the first section, you get what you'd expect from a decent sized herbal. The middle section is an exciting expansion. But then there's an 800 additional plants! How to explain this?
Is the last section fictional?
Adapted from an unknown older source?
Translated from a foreign document?
Whichever of those answers is true, it could be interesting to Voynich studies.