An exploration of the mediaeval natural world. In double-page spreads, illustrated with mediaeval manuscript pages, the volume discusses the symbolic meanings and healing powers ascribed to a particular plant or animal. The illuminated manuscript pages reproduced in the book are taken from three classic works of mediaeval science from the Bodleian Library, Oxford, England, the Austrian National Library in Vienna, Austria, and the Burger Bibliothek in Bern, Switzerland. The text commentaries, which are written in an entertaining style, discuss the origin of each manuscript illustration, symbolic meanings associated with each plant or animal, healing powers ascribed to it and any medical properties modern science has established in it. An introductory essay describes the essential characteristics of mediaeval scientific thought.