A Chymical Dictionary

Fumigatio

Operations instruments and practitioners · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. Calcination described through the action of a corrosive fume.

In the book. Colcothar names a calcined material, whereas Fumigatio names an operation.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 23; facsimile PDF page 351.

Historical Definition

Fumigatio is calcining a thing with a sharp, corrosive fume.

Meaning

The means of treatment is essential: the matter is calcined with a sharp, corrosive fume. The definition therefore gives more than a general reference to smoke or scent. It identifies a reported action upon a subject, while leaving both the subject and the source of the fume unstated.

The adjectives describe the historical agent’s activity. They do not specify a particular gas or modern reagent, and the entry gives no apparatus, quantity or duration.

Use in the Book

Colcothar names a calcined material, whereas Fumigatio names an operation. Corrosiva is a medical class defined through an eating-away action. Fusio concerns melting in fire. These distinctions help readers follow whether a passage is naming the treatment, its product or a different type of change.

Places to Read

Colcothar. Vitriol named through calcination or through the residue of its oil.

Corrosiva. Surgical preparations classified by removal of excess flesh.

Fusio. An operation defined by melting and flow in fire.

In This Edition

The modernised definition retains fume and corrosion without supplying a practical reconstruction. A specific preparation needs evidence from the author’s actual account.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 23; facsimile PDF page 351 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Fumigatio

See also. Colcothar; Corrosiva; Fusio