#
# Identification:
#
#   * Title: "nine-rosette diagram"
#   * Page: f85v2 = NC+ND+NE+NF+NG+NH (Rene) = p169 (Stolfi)
#   * Folio: f85+f86
#   * Panels: f85v2+f86r4+f86r6+f85v1+f86r3+f86r5
#   * Bifolio: bN1 = f85+f86
#   * Quire: N (Rene) = XIV (Beinecke)
#
#   This is the top left panel(?) of the main face of a 12-panel foldout.
#
#   Panels 85v2, 86r4, 86r6 (top), and 85v1, 86r3, 86r5 (bottom)
#   comprise a single logical page, here called f85v2, which is the
#   main face of a 12-panel fold-out. This is the only face that can
#   be entirely seen when all folds are opened. All the panels
#   obviously belong to the same bifolio, which is bound at the
#   vertical fold between panels 85v1 and 86r3.
#
# Attributes:
#
#   * Language: B (Currier)
#   * Hand: 3 (Currier)
#   * Subsets: C (Rene), cos (Stolfi)
#   * Subject: cosmological
#   * Colors: ??? (Reeds), blue("T"_of_"TO"_map) (Reeds)
#
# Description:
#
#   This face of the fold-out contains an elaborate diagram consisting
#   of nine main circular diagrams or "rosettes" connected by things
#   that resemble roads, rivers, tubes, etc. Using compass directions
#   as labels for the rosettes, the general layout is roughly like this:
#
#      *
#     = NW----N----NE
#     = | \   |   / |
#       |     |     |
#       W--- Ctr----E
#       |  *  |     |
#       | /   |   \ |
#       SW----S----SE
#      o             *
#
#   (The right 1/3 of this design is incomplete and based on verbal
#   descriptions by others, and relatively low-resolution images
#   provided by Dennis.)
#
#   The top and bottom rosettes lie one in each of the six panels,
#   roughly centered. The rosettes in the middle row sit on top of the
#   horizontal fold. The center rosette is the largest one while the
#   mid-side ones (N, E, S, W) are the smallest.
#
#   There is a ring of text around each rosette, and dozens of labels
#   all over the place.  Some text rings, perrhas all of them, are 
#   bounded by two faint, mechanically drawn circles.
#
#   Several object in this diagram seem to be covered by tongue-like
#   "scales" or sprouts (see glossary).  In several places these scales
#   pile up into a small conical mound or "fountain", which seems to emit
#   a small "jet" (which looks like a tuff of stiff hair).
#
#   The NW rosette (panel f85v2):
#
#     The ring of text surrounding this rosette (unit "???") has a wide
#     gap at 09:30. Inside this ring is a band of scales turned
#     inwards, giving the impression of a hollow spherical shell with
#     closely-packed finger-like buds sprouting from the inside
#     surface. The band of scales is fringed with a band of hairs,
#     also pointing inwards, and a circle of small dots.
#
#     At the center of this "shell" is a round (slightly oblong)
#     object, also decorated with scales, hairs, and tiny dots
#     but pointing outwards. The object seems to have a opening shaped
#     like an eye on its side, as if a slice had been cut from a
#     melon. The interior of the object seems to be hollow. The edges
#     of the hole are fringed with many small "teeth" or "flames",
#     sharp and curved, directed inwards. On the right edge of the
#     cut, on the boundary between the scales and the flames, there is
#     a single word.
#
#     North, East, and South of the NW rosette there is a complex of
#     scalloped and hatched areas that suggests a very rough surface.
#     Cutting through this hatching, and apparently higher than it, are
#     some flat areas that resemble broad wawering roads. One "road"
#     connects the rosette to a wide flat "plateau" North of it, that
#     extends beyond the panel's edge. Another road goes East to the 
#     N rosette (panel f86r4) and a third road goes South to the  
#     W rosete (split between panels f85v1 and f85v2).  
#
#     The East-going (NW to N) road narrows quickly, and is
#     interrupted halfway by a round court. (Actually the court is
#     foreshortened to an oval; this part of the diagram is drawn as
#     seen from due West, high above the road.) Two narrow
#     paths---slightly convex, with parapets---connect this plaza to
#     the N rosette. The trapezoidal space between the two paths could
#     be a hole or a flowerbed. The road and plaza are edged by an
#     artificial-looking wall, interrupted by a few square columns or
#     towers of the same height. In the middle of the road there is a
#     round multistory tower, with a sharp conical roof.
#
#     The South-going (NW to W) road sports five labels: one at each
#     end, one in the middle, and one on each side, outside the road.
#     It is apparently drawn as seen obliquely from the South.
#
#     Five straight tubes exit from the NW rosette's outline, directed
#     Southeast towards the center rosette. They seem supported at
#     their base by a rampart with multiple scalloped outline. The
#     tubes are arranged symmetrically, with one in center and four,
#     slightly narrower, around it. They stop in mid-air with flat
#     open ends, as if all were cut with a single stroke. There is a
#     label further ahead of the tubes and aligned with their axis.
#
#     Further nortwest of this rosette, right next to the panel's
#     corner, there is a small sun with long sinuous rays. West of the
#     rosette, squeezed against the left edge of the panel, is a
#     narrow text with two paragraphs of 4.0 (or 5.0?) and 4.0 lines.
#
#   The NE rosette (panel f86r6)
#
#     The ring of text (unit "???") surrounding this rosette is
#     interrupted at 00:00 by a rectangle, about half as wide as it is
#     tall, spanning the width of the text band, and decorated with
#     two vertical rows of dots. 
#
#     Inside the text ring is a broad band, spanning almost half the
#     radius, and surrounding a starry field. Most of the band is
#     covered by a texture of closely spaced scalloped lines, on which
#     are superimposed several objects shaped like fat ostrich
#     feathers, curled up on themselves; the whole vaguely suggests a
#     a stormy sea with huge breaking waves. The "stormy sea" is
#     interrupted at 06:00, 09:00, and 01:30 by extensions of "roads"
#     that reach the text ring from the outside. There is one
#     "breaking wave" in each of the 06:00--09:00 and 09:00--01:30
#     sectors, bending counterclockwise; while the sector 01:30-06:00
#     contains four small "breaking waves" and a medium-size one, all
#     bending clockwise.
#     
#     The interruption at 09:00 is an extension of the "road" leading
#     to the N rosette. The road intersects the text ring between
#     08:30 and 09:45, and is broadest at that point. Once inside the
#     text ring, the road narrows abruptly, and is only 1/3 of its
#     maximum width by the time it reaches the starry field. This
#     part of the road is bordered by two concave walls, looking down
#     on rocky cliffs that to rise from the sea. The end of the road
#     is blocked by by a castle in perspective view, with "up" towards
#     West. The castle consists of a square wall, twice as high as the
#     road walls, with M-shaped merlets all around the top edge. A
#     dark dot in the middle of the front wall may be a door. Two rows
#     of elongated dots on the wall could represent windows. Near (or
#     right against) the back wall, close to the left corner, there is
#     a tower. The tower is twice as tall as the walls, reaching
#     almost to the text ring. It has a vertical row of three dot-like
#     windows, a narrow parapet around the top, and a conical roof. To
#     the right of the tower there is a building of some sort. Just
#     outside the castle, where the South wall of the road begins,
#     there is a second tower, similar to the first but only half as
#     tall, with a dark globular roof (or is that an ink blot?).
#
#     Outside the text ring, the road connecting the NE rosette to the
#     N rosette is almost a mirror image of the road from NE to N: a
#     broadening road, edged by artifical walls with square posts or
#     towers. [CHECK] However there is no flower bed dividing the road
#     in two, as there is on the other side. There is a label on the
#     road, just outside the ring, reading North.
#           
#     The road from the NE to the E rosette starts on the edge of the
#     starry field, between 04:30 and 07:30, then quickly narrows, and
#     crosses the text ring between 05:30 and 06:30. Where the road
#     starts, at 06:00 right on the edge of the starry field, there is
#     yet another tower. This tower is like the first one but shorter;
#     it has two dot-like windows, one above the other, and a blunter
#     conical roof. Outside the text ring, the road maintains
#     basically the same width until the E rosette, wandering a bit
#     off the straight line. This road, like most of the others, has a
#     flat surface, surrounded by a band with scalloped texture that
#     sugests a rocky cliff. On the road's surface there are two
#     scalloped lines, with each lobe decorated by a dot, constricting
#     the road [COMPLETE]
#
#   The SW rosette (panel f85v1)
#
#     The ring of text bounding this rosette (unit 程C1}) has gaps at
#     01:30 and 07:30.
#
#     Inside the text ring is a "plateau" with scalloped boundary,
#     with 8 extensions or "passages" leaving in different directions.
#     Each passage has a peculiar outline, sort of a pair of trumpets
#     joined at their narrow ends by a "bulb-like" swelling. The passages
#     are flat like the plateau but are surrounded by a several wavy
#     lines, sugegsting cliffs. One "passage" goes North, one West, two
#     South, three East, and one (narrower, with two swellings, each
#     with a dot inside) goes SouthEast. The passages going North and
#     East are more or less aligned with the roads between the SW,
#     W, and S rosettes, that start just outside the text ring.
#     However the match is not perfect, as if the text ring marked an
#     ellipsis or a change of scale.
#
#     Inside the scalloped area there is an elliptical "flower bed"
#     surrounded by a band of scales. The scales are either painted
#     yellow or dark green, or left uncolored.  At the four cardinal points, the
#     scales pile up into four fountains, whose jets point at nothing in
#     particular. The elliptical flower bed is filled with 24 tiny flowers or
#     stars. In the center there is a yellow flower-like object with 6 round
#     "petals" and a doubly-traced outline.
#
#     There are several labels (unit 程B1}) on or near this rosette.
#     One label in the scalloped-outline area, at 07:30, seems
#     associated with the area itself, or the flower bed inside it.
#     Another 9 labels seem associated with the 8 "passages" leaving the
#     scalloped area, and perhaps with the fountains at the corners of
#     the flower bed. Two more labels lie on the "sea", between the
#     text ring and the scalloped area, at 08:00 and 11:00. Four more
#     labels, reading radially outwards, lie just outside the text
#     ring, between 04:30 and 06:00; they may be associated with the
#     passages going Southeast (although they are not aligned with
#     them).
#
#     Outside the text ring, Northwest from the rosette, there is a
#     roundish textured area surrounded by several wavy lines,
#     resembling a small "island" with steep coastline. A broad,
#     slighlty divergent band with wavy outlines, resembling a
#     torrential stream of water, goes from the island to the edge of
#     plateau (passing under the text ring). Two curves lines of text
#     are written along the stream's axis, and a third is written
#     along its Southern edge. On the Northeast side of the island
#     there is a tuff of curved hairs, so that the island looks like
#     an onion with its roots.
#
#     On the opposite side of the rosette (07:30), also outside the
#     text ring there is a small circle (with double outline decorated
#     with 8 sets of three cross-hatches). The circle is surrounded by
#     a short ring of text (half clockwise and half counterclockwise).
#     Inside the circle there are three dots connected into an "L"
#     with equal arms. Two labels, reading radially towards the the
#     rosette, lie on each side of the small circle. A "dock"
#     resembling a double-traced squarish "U" extends out of the SW
#     rosette towards the small circle.
#
#     Connecting the SW and W rosettes there is a "road", looking like
#     a causeway bordered by artificial-looking walls. The road is
#     actually a diamond-shaped loop, with slightly concave sides. The
#     North and South corners of this diamond connect to the two
#     rosettes; the West and East corners of the diamont open into
#     small round courts. Around this diamond are some wavy lines that
#     suggest steep rocky cliffs. Surrounded by the road is a small
#     diamond-shaped well or monument, tinted yellow. The four corners
#     of the diamond are labeled, and there are two more labels in the
#     "sea" on both sides (all in unit 程B1} too).
#
#     The SW and S rosettes are connected by a broad bowtie-shaped
#     "isthmus", apparently with steep rocky shores. A thick
#     "fortified wall", fringed with "M"-shaped merlets on both sides,
#     runs along the Southern "shore" of the isthmus. North of this
#     wall are two triangular "fields", taking up most of the
#     isthmus, covered by parallel lines and many vertical sticks or
#     poles. There is a label just north of the wall, and another
#     just off the Northern "shore".
#
#   The SE rosette (panel f86r5)
#
#     For most of this panel I have only an image with relatively low
#     resolution.
#
#     On panel f86r3 one can see half of the connection between
#     rosette SE and rosette S. This connection too is a bow-shaped
#     isthmus. The multiple wavy outlines suggest steep shores on both
#     sides. There is a narrower bowtie-shaped "road" on top of the
#     isthmus, next to the South shore cliff. This road has no
#     parapets or merlets, but its edges are scalloped outwards.
#     Between the road and the North shore cliffs there is a band of
#     scales, pointing seawards. There are two labels (unit 程B3}) just
#     off the shore, one on each side of the isthmus.
#
#     The rosette itself is touching the vertical fold bwterrn 
#     panels f86r3 and f86r5, which is disintegrating.
#     The rosette is framed by a ring of text (unit "???"),
#     broken by a gap and two short radial lines at 05:30,
#     and obliterated by the crumbling fold between 08:00 and 10:30.
#     
#     Inside the text ring there is an irregular arrangement of drawn elements
#     and text.  At the center is a square, tilted some 10-20 degrees
#     counterclockwise, divided into four triangles by a light "X", 
#     outlined with thick black strokes. The four triangles are
#     paited with some faded (now brownish) color.  At the very center, where
#     the arms of the "X" come together, is a 
#     small circle with a dot in the center.  
#
#     A textured rectangle extends the square in the 11:00 direction,
#     up to to the surrounding text ring. Its texture consists of
#     several transverse "furrows" with finer perpendicular hatching
#     in between, resembling a woven mat or a ploughed field. The
#     boundary between the rectangle and the square is marked by four
#     short posts. A fringe resembling a palisade runs along the right
#     edge of the square-and-rectangle area, interrupted and bounded
#     by six tall poles or towers, pointing. Paralellel to this
#     square-and-rectangle are are five lines of Voynichese text (unit
#     "???"), two on the left side and three on the right side, the
#     latter interrupted in four places by the towers of the palisade.
#     The text reads towards 11:00 (i.e. vertically, slightly upside-down).
#
#     A fan-shaped area, resembling a mountain with concave sides,
#     connects an arc of the text ring between 06:00 and 08:00 to the
#     lower left corner of the central square. The base of this
#     "mountain", adjeacent to the ring, is covered with several rows
#     of inward-pointing scales, which apparently cover the whole
#     mountain. Some of the scales are painted dark green, and green
#     dots are sprinkled over the mountain slope. The remaining free
#     space just North of this mountain, just inside the text ring,
#     between 08:30 and 10:30, is filed with dark dots.
#
#     Another fan-shaped "mountain", similar but broader, connects the 
#     text ring from 00:00 to 04:30 to the last line of the text
#     to the right of the central square.  The base of this 
#     "mountain" too is covered by several rows of colorless scales,
#     but the mountain slope further up seems bare and lines with
#     many ridges running down the slope.
#
#     A dotted triangular area, with straight sides, extends inwards
#     from the text ring between 04:30 and 05:30, and ends just before
#     reacing the bottom right corner of the central square. This
#     dotted area has no outline, and is framed by 6.7 lines of
#     Voynichese text (units "???"), three on the left side and 3.7 on
#     the right side, all reading inwards.
#
#     Dennis [???] points out that, Southwest of the rosette, there is
#     a small drawing of an animal with a long tail curled up, four
#     thin and dark legs, large roundish ears and a long and narrow
#     muzzle. Rene [04 Apr 1999] could not see it, but he didn't get
#     to unfold the diagram.
#
#     To the right of the "animal", South of the rosette is an
#     undecipherable drawing with a fan of dark strokes, pointing West
#     and Northwest, edged by finer, almost invisible detail. A faint
#     line seems to extend from this item towards 02:00. The whole
#     might be the tail of a large fish.  Where the "body" of this fish 
#     should be, one finds a label (unit "???"), upside down.
#
#     Further to the right, South and Southwest of the rosete and
#     right against the edge of the panel, there is a textured band
#     apparently in golden hues; Dennis suggested [???] that it may be
#     a closely-packed school of fish, facing left.  Rene [04 Apr 1999]
#     says it doesn't quite look like fish.
#     
#     Above the "school of fish", right against the left edge of the panel,
#     is a small sun with narrow, sinuous rays, painted yellow.  Inside the 
#     sun there seems to be some symbol or simple diagram.
#
#     Between the SE and the E rosettes there is another bowtie-shaped
#     isthmus, containing a bowtie-shaped "raised road", surrounded
#     scalloped "cliffs" on both sides (the inner cliff being much
#     wider than the outer one). I cannot tell whether the road has
#     any walls or parapets. Two labels (unit "???") lie next to the
#     narrow part of the road, one on either side, both upside-down.
#
#   The N rosette (panel f86r4)
#
#     This rosette is surrounded by ring of text (unit 程V2}). The ring
#     is fairly round but the presumed guiding circles are not
#     visible.
#
#     Just inside this ring there is a band of scales, as in the NE
#     rosette. However there are no hairs or dots. Instead the scales
#     seem to pile up into 13 conical "fountains" (11 visible and 2
#     inferred), pointing inwards.
#
#     The fountains seem to be blowing or spraying a "windmill" that
#     takes up most of the space inside the rosette. Each fountain
#     points into the notch between consecutive "blades" of the
#     windmill. In each sector, between consecutive fountains, there are
#     10 labels, aligned with the tips of the windmill blades, reading
#     radially inwards. (Two of the sectors are hidden by the
#     "waterfall", see below.)
#
#     The central "windmill" resembles the central structure of the
#     diagram in <f68v1>. It consists of a fat star (or toothed disk)
#     divided into 13 "blades" or sectors shaped like narrow kites.
#     Each sector is split lengthwise into a solid dark-colored half
#     (the most clockwise one) and a "starry" half. The latter
#     contains many tiny stars against a colored background. The
#     approximate star counts, clockwise from North, are
#
#       sector 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
#              -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
#       stars  11 10 10 10 09 10 11 10 11 10 11 10 10
#
#     The actual counts may be one or two higher.  Thus there are
#     133 stars, perhaps a little more.  This is almost exactly twice
#     the total number of stars in the windmill of <f68v1> (66-67).
#
#     A "flow" of some sort seems to be taking place between the
#     windmill's South edge and the central rosette. The flow has
#     triangular or conical shape, and is marked with stream lines and
#     many small circles suggesting droplets. It is not entirely clear
#     which way the flow is moving; but its South end has smaller
#     "droplets", and exits or enters a hole at the top of a conical
#     pile of scales, similar to the fountains inside the N rosette
#     but larger.
#
#     A narrow stick or tube, with a round swelling near its tip,
#     extends Southwards from the center of the windmill, for about
#     half its radius. (It is probably perpendicular to the windmill's
#     plane, but drawn as if looking from a North-South direction.)
#
#   The S rosette (panel f86r3)
#
#     This rosette, like the others, is framed by a ring of text (unit
#     "C2") between two faint mechanically drawn circles. There is a
#     wide gap in the text between 06:00 and 06:45.
#
#     The space inside the ring is largely occupied by a "windmill"
#     object somewhat similar to the one inside the N rosette. This
#     windmill too has the outline of a fat star divided into 13
#     narrow kite-shaped sectors. However, instead of being bisected
#     into dark and light halves, here the sectors alternate between
#     dark solid color (blue-black in one reproduction) and starry sky
#     pattern. The necessary exception is the sector at 08:00, which
#     is bisected by a wavy line that slaloms between two rows of
#     dots; the clockwise half is starry, the other is solid dark.
#     Three of the starry sectors have a light yellow background, the
#     rest are uncolored (or faded away). The star counts per sector,
#     starting and ending with the split one (01 and 14), are
#
#       sector  01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14
#       color   wh bk YE bk YE bk wh bk wh bk YE bk wh bk
#               -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
#       stars   12 -- 19 -- 25 -- 24 -- 26 -- 22 -- 24 --
#
#     i.e. 152 stars.
#
#     There is no tube at the center of the windmill, only a 
#     faint circular marking, possibly containing two Voynichese
#     letters.
#
#     At the tip of almost every sector there is a small round bulb,
#     and attached to almost every bulb is a fan-like structure
#     of varying width. When present, the fan starts from a small
#     pointed spike at the at distal end of the bulb, and stops at the
#     surrounding text ring. For the broadest fans, the spike seems to
#     have opened to a crown of points. More precisely, starting from
#     the split sector at 08:00 we have
#
#       sector            01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 ** 12 ** 13
#                         -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
#       bulb at tip        Y  Y  Y  Y  ?  ?  ?  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  ?  Y  Y 
#       spike(S)/rown(W)   S  S  S  S  ?  ?  ?  S  S  S  W  ?  ?  ?  W 
#       fan width(N,0..2)  2  ?  ?  N  N  N  N  0  N  0  1  2  2  2  2 
#
#     The two "**" entries above refer to a pair of "extra" fans that 
#     start from narrow stalks growing from the notch between two star tips.
#
#     Some of the bays between consecutive star tips contain labels
#     (unit 程B2}), reading radially inward.  One of them, at 07:30, is tilted
#     at 45 degrees to the radius, almost vertical.
#
#     Symmetrically to the N rosette, there is a big fan-shaped flow
#     between an aperture in the central rosette and the whole North
#     edge of the windmill. The flow is marked with stream lines
#     (diverging from the North vertex) and small chevrons pointing
#     South, towards the windmill. The flow seems to emanate from a
#     bottle-shaped nozzle on the wall of the central rosette.
#
#   The W rosette (on the fold between panels f85v1 and f85v2)
#
#     This rosette is similar to the North and South ones, in that it
#     has a ring of text (unit 程N1}) surrounding a "windmill", which
#     is sprayed by a "flow" emanating from the central rosette.
#     However the fold and the poor copy quality prevent us from
#     checking many of the details that are visible in the other two.
#
#     The text ring is interrupted at 09:45 by a decorated rectangle
#     (a laterally compressed version of the "notched square" marker).
#
#     The West windmill is smaller than its North and South
#     companions. It is divided into 18 kite-shaped sectors,
#     half of them solid light yellow, and half of them filled with 
#     many small stars. Clockwise from 09:00, the star counts are
#
#       sector   01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
#                -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
#       stars    ?? -- >6 -- 07 -- 05 -- ?? -- 10 -- 09 -- 09 -- 10 --
#
#     So there are more than 56, probably around 80 stars on this windmill.
#
#     About two dozen thin beams or "stalks" emanate from the windmill
#     (both from the tips of the sectors and from the throughs between
#     sectors). the stalks end in round bulbs. These in turn are
#     connected to a scalloped circle that resembles a ring of round
#     arches.  Every two normal arches there is an extra-tall one.
#
#     The "flow" is somewhat smaller than the North and South ones,
#     and consists of several tinsel-like strands with the barbs 
#     pointing towards the windmill; it is similar to the South flow,
#     but the barbs are pointing in the opposite sense.  The 
#     strands converge on (or diverge from a point on the wall
#     of the center rosette---which is unfortunately obscured by the fold.
#
#     Between the text ring and the arches there are 8 labels (one of them,
#     obscured by the fold), reading radially inwards (unit 程M1}).
#
#   The E rosette (on the fold between panels f86r5 and f86r6)
#
#     For this rosette I have only a low-resolution image, so the description
#     is incomplete and possibly incorrect.
# 
#     This rosette too is framed by a text ring (unit "???")
#     with a gap around 09:00.  
#
#     Inside the text ring is a patterned band, with two or three rows
#     of roundish objects (details not visible).
#
#     Inside this band is a wheel with about 12 rounded lobes,
#     each attached to the wheel by a narrow neck.  There may be
#     some texture, labels, or designs on the wheel.   At the center there
#     is a small round hub, yellow-tinted.
#
#     A "flow" comes out from the central rosette and spreads over the 
#     lobed wheel.
#   
#   The central rosette (on the fold between panels f86r3 and f86r4).
#
#     The usual text ring (unit 程N2}) is surrounded in this case by a
#     complex band, entirely covered with outward-pointing scales and
#     other structures. Exposed scales are seen to have a dark (green?) spot
#     near the middle. The band of scales is edged on the outside with
#     many narrow yellow "flames" like sun rays, each ending with a
#     dark dot. The inner edge of the band has a row of
#     elements like shallow conical cups, with dark green interior 
#     (similar to the "flowers" of f???). also pointing
#     outwards. From among the scales thre arises at regular inervals
#     a group of five or six tubes (a wide one at the center, with
#     smaller and shorter tubes surrounding it). All tubes have 
#     an open, clean-cut end; their hollow is painted dark (red?).
#
#     Inside the text ring there are two additional concentric bands
#     of outward-pointing scales.   The outermost of these two bands 
#     is fringed by hairs, also pointing outwards.  In the innermost 
#     of these two bands, some scales are painted dark green.
#
#     In the annular space between the text ring and the the second
#     band of scales there are 19 labels, reading radially inwards ---
#     all between 17:30 and 02:30.
#
#     Around the North half of that annular space there is also a thin
#     semicircular line that is interrupted several times by
#     triple-scalloped indentations.
#
#     The inner band of scales is a bit flattened, like a disk seen in
#     perspective. Inside the band there are half a dozen "mushrooms"
#     in a circle. Each mushroom consists of a "stalk" and a "head",
#     topped by a "spike". The stalk is a chubby cylinder with its
#     bottom half encased in a short "sock" with a swelling just above
#     ground level. The "head" is spherical and featureless. The
#     "spike" is shaped like an upside-down trumpet, with thick lip,
#     and ends with a sharp point at the top. The spike and/or stalk
#     of some mushrooms is painted yellow.
#
#     Further inside the mushroom ring there is a ring of unidentified
#     shapes (perhaps resembling human silhouettes), with their
#     "heads" painted dark blue-green. Inside this ring is a dotted
#     area, about level with the mushroom "heads".
#
#     Between the two nearest mushrooms there are a few words of text
#     (also in unit 程M2}).
#
# Comments:
#
#   LOW-LEVEL INTERPRETATION
#
#   I.e. what objects was the artist trying to draw? 
#
#   The hatched areas outside the rosettes could be sea waves, rocky
#   terrain, flesh, clouds, cave walls, and many other things. However
#   the details of the NW to N road sugegst they are cliffs rising
#   from the sea.
#
#   The object inside Nw rosette could be a cutaway view of a hollow
#   shell, with a layer of "scales" on the outside, and
#   inward-pointing flames or spines on the inside. (Compare however
#   with the flower on f40v). The label seems to be applied the shell
#   itself.
#
#   The opening could also be a mouth with teeth; but the shape,
#   curvature, and slant or the "teeth" are not correct. It could also
#   be eye with eyelashes; but the same objection applies, and there
#   is no hint of iris and pupil.
#
#   The tower-like structure on the N to NE road could be a fountain.
#   There are faint markings South of it that could be a puddle of water,
#   or a standing person (with one arm on the "fountain"), or...
#
#   The two roads connecting the N rosette to the plaza West of it
#   could be either bridges or, two lanes separated by a flower bed.
#
#   The knobs at the corners of the SW-W road could be towers seen
#   from dead above (the apparent perspective for this part of the
#   drawing), dropping straight down to the sea level. But they could
#   also be landing pads at sea level...
#
#   The grooved areas North of the wall on the SW-S isthmus could 
#   represent plowed and planted fields, or vineyards.
#
#   HIGH-LEVEL INTERPRETATION
#
#   I.e. what is the purpose of this picture?
#
#   The sun in the NE corner suggests a cosmological interpretation.
#   On the other hand, the tubes suggest anatomy, or (less likely)
#   plumbing, while the roads and tower suggest a map.
#
#   The whole diagram may be a graphic equivalent of the description
#   of the cosmos given in 1 Enoch and other ancient texts, where
#   natural phenomena like planetary motions, rivers, winds, rains,
#   springs, etc. are said to be produced in some "cosmic factory".
#
#   Alternatively, it could be a "biological factory" explanation of
#   human physiology.
#
#   Perhaps this diagram is an attempt to draw the mysterious device
#   described in the Cabal, or the apocalyptic vision of Ezra, or 
#   Heron's hydraulic gadgets, or...
#
#   Just to cover all the bases: it could be a report from a time
#   traveler or UFO abductee: the NW rosette is a fusion reactor, the
#   pipes leaving it carry steam for heating, the N/S/W/E rosettes are
#   steam turbines, the bulb-headed towers in the center are
#   rockets... 8-)
#
#   Another possibility is that it is a "fantasy island", like many
#   kids like do draw (and grown-ups too---consider Tolkien's maps of
#   Middle Earth)
#
# 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.]
#
# Last edited on 1999-04-11 04:24:34 by stolfi