Higher probabilities are good. Probabilities may prove interesting. The need for absolute identification is not essential in order to examine 'the literature.' A prospective identification and a bit of curiosity is enough for a discussion. But which is the better choice? 'Viola' has strong visual correlations, but it does not currently appear to have good textual representatives in the herbal manuscripts. *Disclaimer: I know nothing about VMs botany, well, virtually nothing. I'm a gardener, not a botanist. I only have questions.
Cannabis appears to have a stronger 'medical' history and so more numerous representations in the literature than 'Viola'. That really improves the chances of finding a match for the *text*, a match between the VMs text, and some historical text about cannabis, yet to be discovered.
The VMs text is clearly separated into three parts. It's probably not poetic, constructed word for word, and line for line. But it does have three short sections instead of one long one. And it's not that this short-section writing style is uncommon. So, I guess the question is; does the set of extant manuscripts possess an example of a cannabis illustration where the relevant text is also laid out in a short, three-part sequence?
If such examples did exist, correspondence might proceed further.
One thing is clear, the VMs representation is a lot better than the Sloane illustration, and the Sloane illustration has a label.
Cannabis appears to have a stronger 'medical' history and so more numerous representations in the literature than 'Viola'. That really improves the chances of finding a match for the *text*, a match between the VMs text, and some historical text about cannabis, yet to be discovered.
The VMs text is clearly separated into three parts. It's probably not poetic, constructed word for word, and line for line. But it does have three short sections instead of one long one. And it's not that this short-section writing style is uncommon. So, I guess the question is; does the set of extant manuscripts possess an example of a cannabis illustration where the relevant text is also laid out in a short, three-part sequence?
If such examples did exist, correspondence might proceed further.
One thing is clear, the VMs representation is a lot better than the Sloane illustration, and the Sloane illustration has a label.