ملف:Illuminated Manuscripts (Middleton) figure07.jpg

English: Figure from Illuminated Manuscripts in Classical and Mediaeval Times, their Art and their Technique. Fig. 7. Miniature from the manuscript of the work on Botany by Dioscorides, executed in Constantinople about 500 A.D. It represents Dioscorides seated on a sort of throne; in front is a female figure Euresis (Discovery) presenting to him the magic plant mandragora (mandrake). The dying dog refers to the popular belief, given by Josephus, as to the manner in which the mandrake was gathered. When plucked from the ground the mandrake uttered a scream which caused the death of any living creature that heard it; it was therefore usual to tie a dog to the plant and retire to a safe distance before calling it, and so causing the dog to drag the plant out of the ground. On hearing the scream the dog dropped down dead.