Caput mortuum

Operations instruments and practitioners · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. The material left behind by distillation or sublimation.

In the book. Chymus supplies feces or residue vocabulary, while Sublimatio gives one of the named processes.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 14; facsimile PDF page 342.

Historical Definition

Caput mortuum is the residue remaining after distillation and sublimation.

Meaning

The term defines a material by its position in an operation: it is what remains after the named process. That is different from identifying a fixed ingredient before the work begins. Its particular composition therefore depends on the starting matter and treatment, which the entry does not specify.

The head-expression is figurative, but the definition gives a concrete operational role. A reader can follow what rises or is removed and what is left. The residue need not have one universal appearance merely because different authors call it Caput mortuum.

Use in the Book

Chymus supplies feces or residue vocabulary, while Sublimatio gives one of the named processes. Read them together to distinguish the operation from the portion left by it. Caput corvi, by contrast, is directly glossed as antimony and should remain separate.

Places to Read

Chymus. A residue term rather than the name of one fixed material.

Sublimatio. An operation defined by the upward movement of heated dry matter.

Caput corvi. A raven-head expression identified with antimony.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 14; facsimile PDF page 342 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Caput mortuum ; compare Chymus, Sublimatio, Caput corvi

See also. Chymus; Sublimatio; Caput corvi