Rahadac

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Rahadat apud Avicennam est piscis stupefaciens torpedo.


Apparatus:

Rahadat fp | Rahadad ul' rahadat B | Rahadar {possibly –dac} e | Radat j | Rahadac AC
piscis | pissis B
stupefaciens | tirpefaciens j
torpedo | turpedo p
{torpedo} etcetera add. j


Translation:

Rahadat in Avicenna is the name of the torpedo {"ray"}, a fish that produces shocks that stun.


Commentary:

Simon is alluding to [Goehl] Avicenna's Canon, Liber secundus, Capitulum 591. De rahadar (annotation: rahadat, id est torpedine pisce (adding to rahadat, annotation: rahade, et est species piscis stupefaciens manum piscatoris tenentis ipsum in rete – "On rahadat, that is 'On the torpedo fish'; rahade is a kind of fish that inflicts numbing shocks, even on the fisherman's hand, who is holding it while it is still in the net"). This text is also printed in: Lyon edition (1522: 118): Liber II, Capitulum dxci. De rahadar. [[1]].

Original Arabic text, book II, p.255: ﺭﻋﺎﺩﺓ /raʕʕāda/ [[2]].

Rahadat:
Wehr (1976): ﺭﻋﺎﺩ /raʕʕād/ (coll.; n.un. ﺓ) "electric ray (zool.)";
Siggel (1950: 38): ﺭﻋﺎﺩ /raʕʕād/ Raja, Rochen {i.e. "ray"}.
The nomen unitatis is ﺭﻋﺎﺩﺓ /raʕʕāda/, but Simon's form is most likely the plural: ﺭﻋﺎﺩﺍﺕ /raʕʕādāt/, transcribed as Rahadat, as shown in B f(j)p. 't' is often misread as 'c' {cf. AC}, less so as 'r' {cf. ms. e}.

torpedo:
The name torpedo is derived from Latin torpeo "to be stiff, numb, motionless; be dull, inactive", and the fish [[3]], [[4]] gave its name to the self-propelled underwater weapon.


WilfGunther 20/01/2014


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