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Corrosiva
Body disease and historical medicine · A Chymical Dictionary
At a Glance
The word. Surgical preparations classified by removal of excess flesh.
In the book. Consolidativa is associated with healing and drying wounds and ulcers; Incarnativa with breeding flesh and skin.
A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 18; facsimile PDF page 346.
Historical Definition
Corrosiva are medicines used by surgeons to eat away superfluous flesh.
Meaning
The reported action is removal: the medicines eat away flesh described as superfluous. The entry gives the historical field of use, surgery, but identifies no ingredient or preparation. Its place in the dictionary is therefore that of an effect-based class rather than a recipe.
“Superfluous” expresses the historical judgement made about the tissue. The commentary retains that qualification rather than expanding the definition into a rule about which bodily tissue should be removed.
Use in the Book
Consolidativa is associated with healing and drying wounds and ulcers; Incarnativa with breeding flesh and skin. These contrasting actions help explain why a historical surgical passage may distinguish removal, drying and production of tissue. Coleritium and Aqua corrodens show that corrosive language can also describe material preparations outside this specific surgical class.
Places to Read
Aqua corrodens. A liquid category defined by corrosive action, including vinegar.
Coleritium. A compound liquid characterised by metallic materials and corrosive action.
Consolidativa. External surgical preparations classified by healing and drying.
In This Edition
The entry supplies terminology for reading historical practice. It gives no operational conditions or criteria for applying a corrosive preparation.
Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 18; facsimile PDF page 346 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Corrosiva
See also. Aqua corrodens; Coleritium; Consolidativa; Incarnativa