[53] Bodl. MS. 266, chart. in fol. saec. xv. 218 leaves; Bibl. Nat.
Paris, Nouv. acq. 1401; the Escorial has another MS. of this work on
paper, in writing of the fourteenth century. The _Liber Introductorius_
commences thus: ‘Quicumque vult esse bonus astrologus’—an expression
which betrays the churchman in Scot. It closes with these words:
‘finitur tractatus de notitia pronosticorum.’ Extracts from the _Liber
Introductorius_ are found in the MS. Fondo Vaticano 4087, p. 38, ro.
and vo., MS. in fol. chart. saec. xvi., and in the Bibl. del Seminario
Vescovile, Padua, MS. 48, in fol. chart. saec. xiv.; also Bibl. Ambros,
Milan, MS. I. 90.
[54] The Paris MS. reads ‘in Astronomia,’ a good example of the confusion
mentioned above.
[55] ‘Leviter.’
[56] This is a mistake common to both the MSS. Innocent IV. did not begin
to reign till 1243, when Scot was long in his grave. Innocent III.,
who was Pope from 1198-1216, is the person meant. He was guardian to
Frederick II. during his minority.
[57] According to the line: ‘Lingua, Tropus, Ratio, Numerus, Tonus,
Angulus, Astra,’ in which the Trivium and Quadrivium were succinctly and
memorably expressed.
[58] His mother was nearly fifty years old at his birth.
[59] See the description of this palace in the poem by Peter of Eboli.
[60] Zurita says that Sancia, the Queen Dowager of Aragon, claimed the
crown of Sicily for her son Fernando, in case there were no heir of
Frederick II. by Constance.
[61] See on this whole subject three most learned and satisfactory works
by Prof. R. Foerster of Breslau—_De Arist. quae feruntur physiognomonicis
recensendis_, Kiliae, 1882; _De trans. lat. physiognomonicorum_, Kiliae,
1884; and especially his _Scriptores Graeci Physiognomonici_, Teubner,
1894.
[62] A _Physionomia_ ascribed to Al Mansour himself was commented on by
Jacopo da Samminiato. It is preserved in the Bibl. Naz. of Florence, MS.
xx. 55.
[63] See Book II. chap. xxvi. _et seq._
[64] B. J. II., 8. § 6. See also the Church Histories of Neander (i. 61,
83) and Kurtz (i. 65).
[65] The word Ἀβράξας read numerically gives the total of 365 = the
number of days in which the sun completes his circle through the twelve
signs. In this way it is equivalent to _Mithras_. These gems often bear
the figure of a cock = the sun-bird, not without reference to Æsculapius.
They were worn to recover or preserve health.
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