f18v...Dioscorides...something about those leaves

[MarcoP]

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. has the Greek text side by side with a Latin translation. The text for Narthex in Paris Greek 2179 and Morgan M.652 appears to be identical. Both lack the last words (in parentheses) of the printed text. The passage is entirely about the medical use of the plant. The only part describing some of the plant is the one that is missing in the two manuscripts, and anyway it says nothing of the flower. So it seems more likely that the corruption of the image was independent from the text (though I find it hard to imagine what happened with Narthex). To make things even more complex, Collins believes that the text and illustrations of Paris Greek 2179 came from two distinct sources.

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E viridi ferula medulla pota utilis est ad cruentas excreationes, coeliasque et contra viperarum morsus in vino datur erumpentemque naribus sanguinem sistit. Semen potum torminosis auxiliatur: sudores ciet, uncto ex oleo corpore. Caules, si edantur, capitis dolores faciunt: muria conduntur. (Ferula itaque caulem profert ternum saepe cubitorum: folia foeniculi, longe asperiora et latiora, qua ab imo caule vulnerata sagapenum efficitur.)

The pith of the green giant fennel, when drunk, is useful for bloody expectorations and stomach ailments, and it is given in wine against viper bites. It also stops nosebleeds. The seeds, when drunk, help those with colic: they induce sweating when the body is anointed with oil. If the stems are eaten, they cause headaches: they are preserved [seasoned?] in brine. (The giant fennel thus produces a stem often three cubits high: its leaves are like those of fennel, but much rougher and wider. From the base of the stem, when wounded, sagapenum is produced.)

These are the two plants from the Latin Dioscorides You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (left: Ferula Narthex, right: Peucedanum). Also in this case, the illustrations do not seem to have much to do with the actual plants.