Cruor salis

Salts solvents and liquid preparations · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A salt distinguished by separation and an unsuccessful second digestion.

In the book. Digestio defines the operation through the analogy of stomach digestion and separation of pure from impure.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 18; facsimile PDF page 346.

Historical Definition

Cruor salis is salt separated from the first salt through a fault in the second digestion.

Meaning

The entry identifies the material through a sequence: an initial salt, a second digestion, and a separation attributed to a fault in that digestion. The name is therefore relational. It does not simply designate salt in general, nor explain what the first salt contains.

“Fault” is kept because the definition presents the separation as connected with a defect in the work. It would be misleading to rewrite the sentence as though every occurrence of a second digestion necessarily produced this salt. The nature of the fault is not explained.

Use in the Book

Digestio defines the operation through the analogy of stomach digestion and separation of pure from impure. Impurum alcali names scum removed in purifying alkali. Both comparisons help readers attend to a material’s place within a preparation, rather than equating every separated salt or residue.

Places to Read

Digestio. Preparation understood through digestion and the separation of pure from impure.

Impurum alcali. A residue distinguished through the purification of alkali.

In This Edition

The commentary leaves the salt’s chemical identity open. A process-relative name can be understood at the level of the historical sequence even when the materials cannot be securely identified.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 18; facsimile PDF page 346 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Cruor salis

See also. Digestio; Impurum alcali