The contents are as follows.

Folios 1-8 (first layer):

This part of the manuscript is written by a strong and slightly angular hand varying in size from small to average. Decoration and colour (red and brown) are profuse. In support of the premise that the first and second layers of the manuscript were bound together at an early stage, marginalia which look as if they are by a common hand are found at folios 1 recto (‘Meisi’), 2 recto (‘Meisi m’), 10 verso (‘Mar as c’), 14 verso (‘Meisi’) and 16 verso (‘M’). There are also illegible marginalia at folios 1 recto and 2 recto, perhaps by the text-hand.

(i) On Isidore of (?)Gaza’s commentary on Aphorisms of Johannes Damascenus (Mesue). Beginning ‘Liberet te Deus fili amantisime a devio herroris conservet te in viam prospiretatis .i. co saera Dia tu a mic cartanaig’. Ends incomplete ‘indus gona tarrngidh in nadur an oileamhna’ = Adv.MS.72.1.23, folio 1 recto, column b, line 17, in section beginning ‘Oportet igitur a purgandum inter venas plus atiles’. This is the beginning of the tract, and it relates to folios 30 verso, column a, line 2-31 recto, column b, 2nd last line of Mesue’s printed text in ‘Sancti Joannis Damasceni...opera vulgo’, (National Library of Scotland pressmark Stirton.c.4). This portion is also covered in part by Adv.MS.72.1.17, folio 1, and Adv.MS.72.1.23. Authorities cited: Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, Avicenna, Seneca (folio 2 recto, column a, line 10), Solomon (folio 2 recto, column a, line 13), Platearius (folio 2 verso, column a, line 17 margin. cf. Adv.MS.72.1.17, folio 1 recto, column a, middle of page), Isaac, Averroes, Constantine (folio 5 recto, column b, line 8), Johanisius (folio 8 recto, column a, middle of the page), Orbacius (folio 8 recto, column b, line 9). The following is a concordance of the above-mentioned printed text with related matter in Kilbride manuscripts. (Folio 1 recto, column a, line 1.)

Folios 30 verso, column a, line 2-31 recto, column b, 2nd last line: Adv.MS.72.1.13, folios 1-8.

Folios 30 verso, column a, line 39-30 verso, column b, line 18: Adv.MS.72.1.17, folio 1.

Folios 31 recto, column b, line 44-31 verso, column a, line 38: Adv.MS.72.1.23, folios 1-2.

Folios 31 verso, column a, line 18-32 verso, column a, line 19: Adv.MS.72.1.22.

Folios 31 verso, column a, last line-31 verso, column b, line 21: Adv.MS.72.1.17, folio 2.

Folios 31 verso, column b, line 8-31 verso, column b, line 32: Adv.MS.72.1.23, folios 3-4.

Folios 32 recto, column a, line 1-32 recto, column b, line 2: Adv.MS.72.1.23, folios 5-6.

Folios 32 verso, column b, line 15-32 verso, column b, line 21: Adv.MS.72.1.17, folio 3.

Together with King’s Inns MS.18, folios 21-30, which contains the portions otherwise missing from the end, these furnish a complete text stemming at no great distance from a common source. Each section generally ends with the words ‘litera patet’ or ‘is mar sin is follus an litir so Damasenus’, frequently abbreviated. See also Adv.MS.72.1.41, for Aphorisms of Hippocrates - 6.4.82.

Folios 9-16 (second layer):

This part of the manuscript is written by a strong and well-proportioned hand, in general larger than that of the first layer, but more varied in quality. Clumsily ruled, especially at folio 14 recto where this leads to a pronounced slope in the writing. Initial capitals are nowhere omitted, but there is no decoration, little rubrication and no colouring except some red at folio 9 recto.

The most notable marginalium is at folio 12 recto, the front of the undersized middle bifolium, where Malcolm Beaton (hand 25 of Adv.MS.72.1.2) writes ‘ata ann so .4. caidiarne M. B’. For further instances of caidirne see Adv.MS.73.1.22, folio 275 verso, and Royal Irish Academy Catalogue, page 3315. Anonymous marginalia in various hands occur at folios 9 recto (illegible), 9 verso, 10 verso, 11 verso (‘In Dei nomine amen: fromadh’), 14 verso (‘ame’), 16 verso.

(ii) On the actions of simple medicine. Beginning ‘Is iad so oiprighthi an leighis aonda’. Authorities cited: Galen, Animatus, Damascenus, Henricus (folio 9 verso, column a, line 1). (Folio 9 recto, column a, line 1.)

(iii) On generation. Beginning ‘Labhrum anois dona 4 modaibh a ndentur ginemain corpurda’. Authorities cited: Avicenna, Animatus. (Folio 9 verso, column b, line 1.)

(iv) Beginning ‘Is ona neithibh so oibrigheas an corp daonna’. Avicenna cited. (Folio 10 verso, column b, line 1.)

(v) On semen. Beginning ‘Meambra spermatis .i. boill an tsilne’. Apollonius cited. (Folio 11 recto, column b, line 10.)

(vi) On sanguis and choler. Beginning ‘Atait 5 cuinchill ag fuil dearg’. (Folio 11 recto, column b, line 22.)

(vii) On brute instinct. Beginning ‘Tuic cu cuirinn an bruidemlacht an t-ainmidhi a fad’. (Folio 11 recto, column b, line 30.)

(viii) On moisture. Beginning ‘Is iad so na 3 flicheadha ata ann’. (Folio 11 recto, column b, line 41.)

(ix) On the digestion and allied diseases, with much reference to astrology. Beginning ‘Adeir in Feallsam gurob e feadh bhis an brigh dhileaghach ⁊ na briogha curthar do congnum dhi ag denam an cead dileagha a fear leanna fuair 6 huaire’. Extends across lower margin of folio 16 verso and ends illegible. Authorities cited: Aristotle, Avicenna, Hippocrates, Galen. (Folio 11 verso, column a, line 1.)

Folios 17-24 (third layer):

This part of the manuscript is written by a precise hand. The first letter is elaborately worked, but beyond this there is little decoration. There is some colouring (red and crimson). The text hand adds ‘In nomine patris ⁊ filii ⁊ spiritu sancti amen’ at folio 17 recto, upper margin.

(x) On theory of medicine. Beginning “Trachtadh cumair tarbach solusta and so d’ foillsiughadh menman lucht an eistseachta a nova mentori”. After a long addition to the text at folio 20 recto, lower margin, the scribe adds: ‘⁊ ni misi is cinntach re bregaib in lebair so acht in cairt alaind bregach’. Ends at folio 20 verso, column a (apparently incomplete) ‘⁊ in tan gabthar ria deadealluigh si arna corpaib is comgar di’, followed by a space. Authorities cited: Galen, Almagesto Tomoei (folio 17 recto, column a, line 37), Isaac, Avicenna, Aristotle, Constantine, Hali, Turius (folio 17 verso, column a, line 42), Johanisius (folio 18 recto, column a, middle of the page), Boethius (folio 18 recto, column b, line 9), Averroes, Plato (folio 20 recto, column b, line 19). (Folio 17 recto, column a, line 1.)

(xi) On physiology. Beginning ‘Luaighem and so do gnimurthaibh in craidhe’. Ends incomplete ‘oir ni coimeadann si deallradh a neith’. Authorities cited: Avicenna, Aristotle, Constantinus, Galen, Damascenus, Isaac, Isidore, Hali, Averroes, Plato (folio 23 verso, column b, line 54), Hippocrates. (Folio 20 verso, column b, line 1.)

Folios 25-28 (fourth layer):

The main hand in this part of the manuscript is quite small, angular, but despite Donald Mackinnon and John Mackechnie’s assertation, it is not identical to hands in Adv.MS.72.1.10 or Adv.MS.72.1.14. It is briefly relieved by a less angular hand at folio 28 recto and 28 verso. The latter hand appears to be responsible for the small amount of decoration and much of the occasional colouring (red and crimson). Further hands have left marginalia: ‘(?)mi dar olla arna lorgadh ⁊ don...’ (folio 26 recto); ‘Sanitas est omni... mundo curo .i. ata at’ (folio 27 verso); an ostentatious hand reminiscent of Adv.MS.72.1.10, folio 9 verso margin, has inscribed “Beag nach tainig ma térma”, 1 quatrain, at folio 28 recto and the alphabet at folio 28 verso. There is also some erased matter.

(xii) On Aphorisms of Hippocrates, cf. Adv.MS.72.1.10, folio 1 recto, column a, line 37. Beginning ‘(acephalous) ‘ramar dearg na oileas an fin ramar finn’. First complete section begins ‘Acutorum morborum non omnina certe pronunciaciones fiunt’. Ends incomplete ‘Qui exolvuntur foraiter ⁊ repente sine mainefesta octasione repente moriuntur [.i. iseadh adeir Ipocrait ann so an lucht teid a singcopis]’ = Adv.MS.72.1.14, folio 12 verso, column a, bottom of the page. Represents book 2, numbers 18-25, 34-41. Also covered in part by Adv.MS.72.1.14. Authorities cited: Isaac, Galen, Johanisius, William of Montpellier (folio 26 recto, column b, line 7), Isidore, Johannes Damascenus, Arnaldus de Villa Nova (folio 28 verso, column a). (Folio 25 recto, column a, line 1.)

Folios 29-32 (fifth layer):

This part of the manuscript is written in a, large, square and painstaking hand, with decorated initials and some colouring, is more typical of legal and other types than of medical material. It may be compared with hands in Adv.MS.72.1.6, 72.1.16, 72.1.25 (medical portion - a related text) and Adv.MS.72.2.3. Contractions are few. The text probably represents the vestiges of a continuous tract on purgatives and diet.

(xiii) On times suitable for purging. Beginning (acephalous) ‘tanna ⁊ niat sin nach fetar do techt ar treorachud’. Ends “Idubramar gonuigi sin d’ aimseraib na bliadhna amail imchuibdhigit i cailib ⁊ i rodísleadhaib rena pargáit”. (Folio 29 recto, column a, line 1.)

(xiv) On how purgatives operate. Beginning “Abrum anois d’ aimsir na heslanti féin”. Ends incomplete (due to missing folios) “Is íat seo na biadha is cóir do”. Hippocrates cited. (Folio 29 recto, column b, line 1.)

(xv) On types of purgative. Beginning (acephalous) ‘is mesraigthi dlegar a dobairt’. Ends incomplete ‘Mad o chruas na mball’. Authorities cited: Alexander (folio 30 recto, column b, middle of the page), Hippocrates. (Folio 30 recto, column a, line 1.)

(xvi) On methods of purging? Beginning (acephalous) ‘don chogus ⁊ don charraighi ⁊ do themel in ruisc’. Ends “⁊ in duine ‘na shuighi ⁊ a chossa timarci”. (Folio 31 recto, column a, line 1.)

(xvii) On meat, eggs, milk and milk products. Beginning ‘Dona feolaibh and seo sis .i. in feoil gabar’. Cf. Adv.MS.72.1.25, f.23r. Galen cited (folio 31 verso, column b, bottom of the page). (Folio 31 recto, column a, middle of the page.)

(xviii) Diets for particular purposes. Beginning “De peiriplemoniarum dieto .i. d’ oilemain ioctha ara mbi periplemonia”. Ends incomplete ‘⁊ na hubla aipchi no somillsi arna nimain’ = Adv.MS.72.1.25, folio 23 verso, column a, line 9. (Folio 32 verso, column a, 3rd last line.)

Folios 33-40 (sixth layer):

In this part of the manuscript, the main hand is quite bold and angular; it is briefly relieved by another at folios 34 recto, 34 verso and 37 verso, while additions to the text are made by what may be a third at 38 recto and 38 verso. There is a largely illegible marginalium at the top of folio 33 recto (‘. . . incipire . . .finire’), with a drawing of a dog at the bottom like that at Adv.MS.72.1.41, folio 14 verso. There is little farther attempt at decoration, and no colouring.

(xix) [Bernard of Gordon. ‘De Gradibus’.] Beginning ‘(N)otandum qu(od tri)plex est doctrina g(raduum)...i. is follus co fuilid tri fuirceadail arna cei(meanna)ib’. Authorities cited (folio 34 recto, column a, bottom of the page): Galen, Jacobus Alcinndi, Averroes, Arnaldus de Villa Nova. Ends folio 37 recto, column a, line 31, ‘Finit amen’. (Folio 33 recto, column a, line 1.)

(xx) ‘Be chrotha ingean tShighmaill’, 10 quatrains. Occupies lower margin of folios 36 verso-37 recto. (Folio 36 verso, bottom of the page.)

(xxi) On honey and wax. Beginning ‘Sex modis mel cognoscitur .i. adeir Nicolaus co fuilid vi modha on aithinter an mhil’. In addition to Nicolaus Hispanus and Johannes de Sancto Amando (folio 38 recto, column a), Galen, Aristotle, Isaac and Avicenna are cited. Cf. Royal Irish Academy MS. 23 0 6 (464), page 7. (Folio 37 recto, column a, line 32.)

(xxii) [Gualterus Burley. ‘De potentiis animae’.] Beginning ‘Amuil adeir in Feallsamh isin cead leabur do metofisi’. Authorities cited: Aristotle, Avicenna, Albertus, Algazel, ‘Commentatur’. See Shaw, ‘Medieval medico-philosophical treatises in the Irish language’, page 154. (Folio 38 recto, column a, middle of the page.)

(xxiii) [Bernard of Gordon.] ‘De amore hereos’. Beginning ‘De amore hereo .i. don gradh re nabar hereos’. See Wulff, ‘De amore hereos’, page 177. Cf. Adv.MS.72.1.2, folio 81 verso, column b, line 18. (Folio 39 recto, column b, bottom of the page.)

(xxiv) [Bernard of Gordon.] On wounds, taken (as is the previous item) from ‘Lilium medicinae’ cf. ‘Bernardi Gordonii Opus . . .’, page 124. Beginning ‘De solucione continuitatis .i. dona cnedhaibh’. (Folio 39 verso, column b, line 16.)

(xxv) On hydrophobia. Beginning ‘Idrafoirbia est passio timens: aquam ⁊c. .i. Iseadh is idrafoirbia ann’. Extends across lower margin and ends ‘meadg bainne gobar ⁊ a cosmaili ⁊ reliquia. Finit amen’. Gilbertinus cited. Cf. Adv.MS.72.1.2, folio 81 recto. (Folio 40 verso, column b, line 1.)

Folios 20 verso, column b (part) and 31 recto, column a (part) are reproduced photographically in CMJ (New Series) volume 6, facing pages 41-42.