Entali

Salts solvents and liquid preparations · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. Alum described through a form and an alternative preparation.

In the book. Mercurialis seva is the water of alum, while Sal aluminosum is a salt extracted from alumen plumosum.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 21; facsimile PDF page 349.

Historical Definition

Entali is flaked alum; sometimes it is made spagyrically from rock salt.

Meaning

The first clause identifies flaked alum. The second adds that the named material is sometimes made spagyrically from salt gemme, rendered here as rock salt. “Sometimes” matters: the alternative origin should not replace the first identification or be treated as the only way the word is used.

The definition gives no steps of preparation and does not explain how a product made from that starting material is to be judged. It supplies a historical relationship of naming and manufacture, rather than an analytical identity.

Use in the Book

Mercurialis seva is the water of alum, while Sal aluminosum is a salt extracted from alumen plumosum. These are distinct descriptions of form, origin or extraction. The common alum vocabulary makes the entries worth comparing without merging their preparations.

Places to Read

Mercurialis seva. A mercurial name directly equated with alum water.

Sal aluminosum. A salt named through the material from which it is extracted.

In This Edition

The modernised wording clarifies a material name but preserves the qualification and the claimed spagyrical origin. It adds no chemical composition.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 21; facsimile PDF page 349 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Entali

See also. Mercurialis seva; Sal aluminosum