#
# Identification:
#
#   * Title: ???
#   * Page: f83v = MR (Rene) = p162 (Stolfi)
#   * Folio: f83
#   * Panels: f83v
#   * Bifolio: bM2 = f76+f83
#   * Quire: M (Rene) = XIII (Beinecke)
#
# Attributes:
#
#   * Language: B (Currier)
#   * Hand: 2 (Currier)
#   * Subsets: B (Rene), bio (Stolfi)
#   * Subject: biological
#   * Colors: red,green,blue (Reeds)
#
# Description:
#
#   The page contains two blocks of text, separated by a figure. The
#   top block (unit µ{P1}) has 7.5 lines in one paragraph, justified
#   against the left, top, and right margins. The bottom block (unit
#   "P2") apparently has two paragraphs of 9.8 and 12.8 lines, both
#   left-justified; the first paragraph is right-justified, the second
#   one runs into a figure at right, and ends about one inch above the
#   bottom margin.  The second paragraph seems to be spaced more
#   openly than the other two.
#
#   There are three figures on the page, showing four naked women
#   ("nymphs") altogether. Each nymph is standing knee-deep inside a
#   "funnel": a tub about two feet wide (in proportion to the nymph),
#   smoothly connected at the bottom to a tapering horizontal drain,
#   about half a foot wide. These funnels are not unlike smoking
#   pipes. The mouth of each funnel has a flat edge, as if cut away.
# 
#   The first figure (unlabeled?) is squeezed into the top left corner
#   of the margin, almost flush against the panel's edge. It shows a
#   single nymph with shoulder-long hair. Her funnel is decorated with
#   three thin scalloped rings, and its narrow end is attached to the
#   side of another vertical tube, about half a foot wide. The upper
#   part of this second tube, above the joint, is decorated with a
#   line of small circles along its length; it loops once around the
#   funnel's narrow end, then rises up and bends towards the nymph,
#   who is holding both hands into the tube's opening. The lower part
#   of the tube, below the joint, is very short; it splits into three
#   wavy tapering "roots" dark-painted, with long sprays of dots
#   coming out from their tips. Alternating with these three roots are
#   two short pipes, straight and smooth, with dark openings at the bottom
#   but no sprays. A third piece of tubing rises from behind the
#   nymph, presumably attached to the back side of the funnel or to
#   the second tube; it has a spray coming out from the top.
#
#   The second figure sits between the two text blocks, spanning the
#   width of the page. It consists of two similar halves that overlap
#   in the center. The left half shows a nymph standing in a funnel,
#   with long hair (reaching down to her lower back). The funnel is
#   decorated with longitudinal rows of dots. Its drain points to the
#   left, and ends with a bunch of wavy lines, from which falls down a
#   spray of dots. To the right of the nymph is a large smooth globe,
#   apparently four feet in diameter, painted dark blue-green.
#   Attached to the globe, at about 10:00, is a "stalk" or tube of the
#   same color, about two feet long, that ends with a sharp cut. The
#   nymph is holding both hands into the open end of this stalk, and
#   is facing into it. On the opposite side of the globe, at 04:00, is
#   attached some sort of appendix, light-colored, covered by
#   transverse wrinkles or rings of scales. This appendix is about
#   four feet long and one foot wide, flaring out at the attachment
#   point. It extends out and down, and ends with a short bundle of
#   parallel curved lines, resembling a liquid flow, and a spray of
#   dots.
#
#   The right half of this drawing is almost a mirror image of the
#   left half, with several intentional differences. The nymph has
#   short hair, with curled locks over the ears, held by a headband.
#   Her funnel is pointing left too (thus breaking the mirror symmetry
#   of the figure) and is decorated with smooth longitudinal lines.
#   The "stalk", attached to the globe at 02:00, is 6-8 feet long; it
#   arches over the nymph's head (who is holding it up with her head
#   and both hands), then bends down behind her. It ends with forked
#   brush of wriggly "hairs" and a spray of dots, half of which is
#   hidden behind the nymph's funnel. The wriggly appendix attached to
#   the othes side of the globe, at 08:00, crosses in front the
#   appendix of the other globe, and ends with a spray of small
#   circles instead of dots.
#
#   Each half of this drawing bears a label (unit µ{X}), apparently
#   associated to the nymph or to the funnel.
#   
#   The third figure lies next to the bottom right corner of the text
#   area. The nymph has short hair, possibly covered by a "bath cap",
#   with some sort of flap hanging down over her left ear. Her
#   funnel is larger than the others in proportion; its dark-painted
#   "drain" forks after a couple of feet, and the two branches turn
#   sharply away from each other, ending abruptly after 3-4 feet.
#   From the end of each drain there comes out a bundle of wiggly
#   lines, suggesting a liquid flow. Another C-shaped tube, also a
#   foot wide and decorated with longitudinal lines or grooves,
#   branches out from the left side of the tub, and ends by the nymphs
#   head. The nymph is holding her right hand into this tube's
#   opening, from with comes forth a spray of short lines and dots.
#   The figure bears two labels (unit µ{Y}), one above the nymph's head
#   another below the tub.
#
# Colors
#
#   There is a hint of blue in the opening of the tub at the top left
#   corner. The two globular objects, their upper stalks, and the
#   bundle of lines at the end of the right stalk, are crudely painted
#   in green. The left half of the bottom tub is painted green, as
#   well as the two lower spouts. The inside of the tub and the
#   openings of the three spouts.
#
#   No color is visible on the nymphs themselves, not even in their
#   hair.
#
# Comments:
#
#   The apparent lack of color on the nymphs may be an artifact of the
#   image posted by Beinecke, whose colors are severly distorted.
#   If confirmed, it would be a point in favor of the theory that 
#   the colors are bogus.
#
#   If we ignore the green color, the two round things could be
#   testicles. If the green is significant, they must be parts of
#   plants. But one does not normally think of plant juices as
#   pouring...
#
#   Each globe also resembles the stomach (?), as drawn in an
#   Arabic manuscript [2].
#
# References:
#
#   [1] Smythe, Frank. "A Script Full of Secrets" and "The Uncrackable
#   Code" in "Mysteries of Mind, Space & Time: The Unexplained", pp.
#   3062-3069. H. S. Stuttman, Inc., Westport, Connecticut, USA.
#   Copyright 1992 by Orbis Publishing, Inc. [Originally published in
#   "The Unexplained" in the UK.]
#
#   [2] Anatomical drawings appended to a Persian translation of an
#   Arabic medical compendium. Undated, probably 18th century India.
#   National Library of Medicine MS P20, fols. 556-557a
#
# Last edited on 2000-02-21 05:46:51 by stolfi