Voynich manuscript
The purpose of the book was probably to serve as a manual to make drugs, or as a book about medicine. The first section is almost certainly a herbal. A herbal is a collection of plants, with their description. An identification of the plants, based on the images has mostly failed, though. Two plants can be guessed, with some certainty: the Wild pansy and the Maidenhair fern. Many of the plant pictures are composite: they combine parts of plants; the root of one plant is added to the leaves of another; the flowers may be from a third species. The leaves and fruit of the Castor oil plant have been identified, as well.