Fimus equinus

Operations instruments and practitioners · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A digestion term whose listed means extend beyond horse dung.

In the book. Digestio explains the operation through the analogy of a stomach and separation of pure from impure.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 22; facsimile PDF page 350.

Historical Definition

Fimus equinus is a digestion carried out in any manner, whether by horse dung, warm ashes, or water.

Meaning

The definition deliberately broadens the range suggested by its name. Horse dung is one means of digestion, but warm ashes and water are also included. It would therefore be too narrow to translate every occurrence as a statement that the work is actually performed in horse dung.

The common feature is digestion, not an identical material setting. The entry supplies alternatives without giving temperatures, durations or equipment for any of them.

Use in the Book

Digestio explains the operation through the analogy of a stomach and separation of pure from impure. Mensis Philosophicus gives a particular time associated with digestion. Those entries provide an account of purpose and a separate measure of time; the listed means here do not make that time universal.

Places to Read

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

Mensis Philosophicus. A philosophical month measured as forty days of digestion.

In This Edition

The modernised definition preserves all three examples. Its purpose is to clarify terminology, not to turn the examples into interchangeable procedures.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 22; facsimile PDF page 350 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Fimus equinus

See also. Digestio; Mensis Philosophicus