Cornu cervi

Operations instruments and practitioners · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A name shared by a part of distilling equipment and a wound-related herb.

In the book. Cucurbita and Cyphantum also belong to the vocabulary of distillation, but name vessels.

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

Historical Definition

Cornu cervi, among chymists, is the nose of a still; in Paracelsus it is a vulnerary herb.

Meaning

This entry explicitly divides its senses by usage. Among chymists it denotes the nose of a still, a part of apparatus. In Paracelsus it denotes an herb characterised as vulnerary, or associated with wounds. The compiler’s two attributions are the guide to disambiguation.

A reader should consequently begin with what the sentence is doing. A reference to equipment and the passage of liquid may support the first sense; a botanical or medical discussion may support the second. Neither setting can be assumed from the headword in isolation. The entry does not tell us which herb the second sense identifies.

Use in the Book

Cucurbita and Cyphantum also belong to the vocabulary of distillation, but name vessels. Consolidativa describes a surgical class in which healing wounds is part of the stated purpose. These comparisons illuminate the two contexts while leaving the compiler’s specific botanical identification open.

Places to Read

Consolidativa. External surgical preparations classified by healing and drying.

Cucurbita. A gourd-shaped vessel.

Cyphantum. A name that can denote equipment or the art performed with it.

In This Edition

Both senses appear in the modernised definition. Choosing one as the main meaning and treating the other as an incidental curiosity would conceal the entry’s principal lesson about context-dependent terminology.

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

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Cornu cervi

See also. Consolidativa; Cucurbita; Cyphantum