VMs: Folio 57v

["GC" <glenclaston@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

last time I revisited this page, I was working
from memory, but closer examination simply
increases my belief that this is some sort of
'nocturnal'.

The inside circle that I 'assumed' had 17
characters in a 270 degree area does not.  The
middle ring does in fact have 4 sets of 17
characters, but the inner ring, starting from the
'start indicator' has 28 characters.  If you go
left of the 'start indicator' you will find three
other evenly spaced characters, bringing the total
characters of this ring to 31 characters in the
270 degree area.  This is very much worthy of
noting.

It is my current opinion that this is indeed a
nocturnal, and that it is constructed to calculate
the following:  The time of night based on the
current count of the day, the lunar cyle (new
moon, waxing, waning, full, etc.), the solstice
and equinoctial days, and the zenith of the moon
(high moon) for any given day.

In order to do this, the label outside the ring
would have only one meaning - the 'north', 'pole'
or 'artike' star.  There are a host of name
variations for this.  the outside ring of very
short names have to be star alignments, therefore
star names.  I would expect the single character
words to be probably numerical equivalents for the
zodiac signs, and the rest to be names of 'fixed
stars' within that particular zodiac house.

What I keep getting back to however is that the
middle ring and the single characters in the
center ring must be encrypted numerical
equivalents.  I'm going to be revisiting these
sequences later, once I've ran them against what I
already know about the VMS.  I'm more convinced
than ever that this is a mathematical construction
of a working volvelle.

I'd welcome any advice at all on where to find
information on the construction of these devices.
I have several books from this time period with
similar volvelles, and I'm going to spend some
time going back and reading these sections very
carefully.  In the meantime I'm open to new ideas
on this that might explain different uses for this
device.

GC