Text-fig. 14. “Bauser vel Bausor” [Ortus Sanitatis, Mainz, 1491].
Among the herbs, substances such as starch, vinegar, cheese, soap, etc., are included, and as these do not lend themselves to direct representation, they become the excuse for a delightful set of genre pictures. “Wine” is illustrated by a man gazing at a glass; “Bread,” by a housewife with loaves on the table before her (Text-fig. [15]); “Water,” by a fountain; “Honey,” by a boy who seems to be extracting it from the comb; and “Milk,” by a woman milking a cow. The picture which appears under the heading of Amber shows great ingenuity (Text-fig. [16]). The writer points out that this substance, according to some authors, is the fruit or gum of a tree growing by the sea, while according to others it is produced by a fish or by sea foam. In order to represent all these possibilities, the figure shows the sea, indicated in a conventional fashion, with a tree growing out of it, and a fish swimming in it. The writer of the Ortus Sanitatis, on the other hand, holds the opinion that Amber is generated under the sea, after the manner of the Fungi which arise on land.
Text-fig. 15. “Panis” = Bread [Ortus Sanitatis, Mainz, 1491].
The treatises on animals and fishes are full of pictures of mythical creatures, such as a unicorn being caressed by a lady as though it were a little dog (Text-fig. [17]), recalling the “Lady and Unicorn” tapestry in the Musée Cluny—a fight between a man and hydras—the phœnix in the flames—and a harpy with its claws in a man’s body. Other monsters which are figured include a dragon, the Basilisk, Pegasus, and a bird with a long neck which is tied in an ornamental knot.
