Whatever the date of these miniatures, however, they reproduce the meaning of the text of the _Liber divinorum operum_ with a convincing certainty and sureness of touch. This work is the most difficult of all Hildegard’s mystical writings. Without the clues provided by the miniatures, many passages in it are wholly incomprehensible. It appears to us therefore by no means improbable that the traditional interpretation of Hildegard’s works, thus preserved to our time by these miniatures and by them alone, may have had its origin from the mouth of the prophetess herself, perhaps through another set of miniatures that has disappeared or has not yet come to light.[19] IV. THE SPURIOUS SCIENTIFIC WORKS OF HILDEGARD The scientific views of Hildegard are embedded in a theological setting, and are mainly encountered in the _Scivias_ and the _Liber divinorum operum simplicis hominis_. To a less extent they appear occasionally in her _Epistolae_ and in the _Liber vitae meritorum_. [Illustration: From the HEIDELBERG CODEX OF THE _SCIVIAS_ Plate IV. THE UNIVERSE] Two works of non-theological tone and definitely scientific character have been printed in her name. One of these was recently edited under the title _Beatae Hildegardis causae et curae_.[20] A single MS. only of this work is known to exist, and is now deposited in the Royal Library of Copenhagen.[21] It is an ill-written document of the thirteenth century, and the original work probably dates from this period. It has none of the characteristics of the acknowledged work of Hildegard, and indeed the only link with her name is the title, which is written in a hand different from that of the text (Plate V _a_). Nothing could be more unlike the ecstatic but well-ordered and systematic work of the prophetess of Bingen than the prosy disorder of the _Causae et curae_. Linguistically, also, it differs entirely from the typical writings of Hildegard, for it is full of Germanisms, which never interrupt the eloquence of her authentic works. Again, Hildegard’s tendency to theoretical speculation, as for instance on the nature of the elements or on the form of the Universe, finds no place in the scrappy paragraphs of this apocryphal compilation. [Illustration: Plate V a. OPENING LINES OF THE COPENHAGEN MS. OF THE _CAUSAE ET CURAE_] [Illustration: Plate V b. OPENING LINES OF THE LUCCA MS. OF THE _LIBER DIVINORUM OPERUM SIMPLICIS HOMINIS_]