Subject: Who's that girl in...
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 1996 12:34:31 +1000 (EST)
From: (Jacques Guy)
To: voynich@rand.org

Since we are now visiting Hungary, I cannot resist airing again
an old pet theory of mine: that the nymphs in bathtubs are
in fact country wenches being drained of their blood for
the infamous Erzsebet Bathory, the "bloody countess".

The "plumbing" diagrams are just that: plumbing diagrams of
Csejthe (spelling?) castle.

Further, you'll notice how similar the Enochian letter "gal"
ir to the Hungarian rune for "E", and the Enochian letter
"ged" for "O". Hence Kelley got the idea of the Enochian
alphabet from Hungarian runes he saw in Prague!

<snip>


Subject: The Blood Countess, by Andrei Codrescu
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 1996 00:45:28 -0500 (CDT)
From: Dennis Stallings 
To: voynich@rand.org

> Since we are now visiting Hungary, I cannot resist airing again
> an old pet theory of mine: that the nymphs in bathtubs are
> in fact country wenches being drained of their blood for
> the infamous Erzsebet Bathory, the "bloody countess".

        Andrei Codrescu is an American writer who is an expatriate from
Romania.  He grew up in Sibiu, in Transylvania.  The Americans on the
list may be familiar with him as a commentator on National Public Radio.

        He has written a historical novel about Elizabeth Bathory called
"The Blood Countess".  I just finished reading it.

> The "plumbing" diagrams are just that: plumbing diagrams of
> Csejthe (spelling?) castle.

        In fact, as a character in the novel points out, blood rapidly
coagulates in ordinary containers.  Elizabeth's victims were bled in a
special device.  This was a large basket suspended from the ceiling that
would spin rapidly around.  Centrifugal force would drive knives into the
victim, bathing Elizabeth, standing below, in  blood.
        Yes, this is the goriest thing I've read in a long time; the
author does not spare any details.  Yet one can see, from the times she
lived in and the people around her, how she became the monster she was.

<snip>


Dennis



Subject: Re: The Blood Countess, by Andrei Codrescu
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 1996 10:45:22 +0000
From: Gabriel Landini
Organization: The University of Birmingham, U.K.
To: voynich@rand.org

>
>       In fact, as a character in the novel points out, blood rapidly
> coagulates in ordinary containers.  Elizabeth's victims were bled in a
> special device.  This was a large basket suspended from the ceiling that
> would spin rapidly around.  Centrifugal force would drive knives into the
> victim, bathing Elizabeth, standing below, in  blood.

If the container walls are completely covered with solid paraffin, blood
does not coagulate.
This is what glass sample tubes have in the walls.

cheers,

Gabriel


Subject: Re: The Blood Countess, by Andrei Codrescu
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 1996 09:23:44 +1000 (EST)
From:  (Jacques Guy)
To: voynich@rand.org

> >     In fact, as a character in the novel points out, blood rapidly
> > coagulates in ordinary containers.
>
> If the container walls are completely covered with solid paraffin, blood
> does not coagulate.

Neither does it with a certain additive that colours it green!
(I'm making this up, of course. Every little bit of skullduggery
helps my zany theory #6 about the VMS)