Re: VMs: Re: Marci/Kircher letter 1640

[Gabriel Landini <G.Landini@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Friday 17 Jan 2003 6:35 pm, ajb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> Slight alterations made to the suggested rendering into English
> of the 1640 letter
> http://www.sphynx.demon.co.uk/Marci_Kircher_1640.doc

What is this "heliotropo"?
It is not very clear, was Baresch asking about it?
---
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913):

Heliotrope \He"li*o*trope\, n. [F. h['e]liotrope, L.  heliotropium, Gr. ?; ? 
the sun + ? to turn, ? turn. See Heliacal, Trope.]
   1. (Anc. Astron.) An instrument or machine for showing when
      the sun arrived at the tropics and equinoctial line.

   2. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Heliotropium; -- called also
      turnsole and girasole. H. Peruvianum is the commonly
      cultivated species with fragrant flowers.

   3. (Geodesy & Signal Service) An instrument for making
      signals to an observer at a distance, by means of the
      sun's rays thrown from a mirror.

   4. (Min.) See Bloodstone

Bloodstone \Blood"stone`\, n. (Min.)
   (a) A green siliceous stone sprinkled with red jasper, as if
       with blood; hence the name; -- called also heliotrope.
   (b) Hematite, an ore of iron yielding a blood red powder or ``streak.''
---
Hm... sunflowers??

Cheers,

Gabriel

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