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Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · English Edition

Gerhard Dorn and John French

A Chymical Dictionary

An Expanded Diotimos Lexicon of Paracelsian and Alchemical Language

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A Chymical DictionaryBalsamum Elementorum externum

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English Edition · Branch 13 of 740

Balsamum Elementorum externum

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 13

Balsamum Elementorum externum

Elements principles and the natural world · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. An external elemental balsam explained through Mercury, Mumia and firmamental essence.

In the book. Mumia Elementorum and Balsamum provide the most direct comparisons.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 10; facsimile PDF page 338.

Historical Definition

Balsamum Elementorum externum is a liquor of external Mercury: that is, the Mumia of external elements, one of the three principles, the firmamental essence of things.

Meaning

The definition supplies a chain of related descriptions rather than a familiar everyday ingredient. Liquor, external Mercury, elemental Mumia, a principle and firmamental essence are used to characterize the subject. Each phrase belongs to the historical account and should be preserved, even where the relations remain compressed.

The qualifier external is especially important beside the internal balsam of a human body. It keeps this entry in the account of external nature. Yet the word does not by itself identify a modern liquid or prove that the “essence” has been isolated. A reader needs the surrounding author’s explanation of elements and principles to narrow the sense.

Use in the Book

Mumia Elementorum and Balsamum provide the most direct comparisons. Archeius places the three principles within a larger account of generation. These links clarify the vocabulary’s conceptual setting without supplying an invented preparation.

Places to Read

Balsamum. A preservative substance described in both bodily and external forms.

Mumia Elementorum. Mumia-language applied to a balm of external elements.

Archeius. A generative agency distinguished from universal matter and from the agency of individual formation.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 10; facsimile PDF page 338 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Balsamum Elementorum externum ; compare Balsamum, Mumia Elementorum, Archeius

See also. Balsamum; Mumia Elementorum; Archeius

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About This Reading Edition

The complete 706 historical definitions of the 1650 English dictionary, modernised and accompanied by expanded Diotimos commentary, reading routes, 15 textual notes and complete linked indexes.

Historical Text

A Chymicall Dictionary, London 1650, English version associated with John French, based on Gerhard Dorn’s Dictionarium Theophrasti Paracelsi. The containing volume also prints Sendivogius and Paracelsus; neither neighboring work changes this dictionary’s attribution.

About This Edition

Complete 706 definition paragraphs with new introduction, commentary, reading guides and indexes; Diotimos Editions, 2026.

Rights

The historical 1650 English text is in the public domain. New introduction, commentary, reading guides and indexes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions and published with the site owner’s authorization.