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Humor vitæ
Body disease and historical medicine · A Chymical Dictionary
At a Glance
The word. A life-related term identified with radical moisture.
In the book. Iliaster primus includes the life itself or balsam of life in a person.
A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 25; facsimile PDF page 353.
Historical Definition
Humor vitæ is the radical moisture.
Meaning
The definition gives an internal naming relation and no account of a particular visible liquid. “Radical” is retained because it qualifies the moisture in a way the short entry does not independently explain. The phrase should not be replaced by a modern bodily fluid from the headword alone.
Use in the Book
Iliaster primus includes the life itself or balsam of life in a person. Balsamum is associated with preservation from putrefaction. These connections provide a vocabulary of life, moisture and preservation, while leaving the precise subject of radical moisture to the author’s wider account.
Places to Read
Balsamum. A preservative substance described in both bodily and external forms.
Iliaster primus. The first human Iliaster described through life and its balsam.
Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 25; facsimile PDF page 353 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Humor vitæ
See also. Balsamum; Iliaster primus