DiotimosReading Desk

Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · English Edition

Gerhard Dorn and John French

A Chymical Dictionary

An Expanded Diotimos Lexicon of Paracelsian and Alchemical Language

Explore the Lexicon
A Chymical DictionaryScacurcula

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

English Edition · Branch 562 of 740

Scacurcula

Book Mode

A Chymical Dictionary

p. 562

Scacurcula

Body disease and historical medicine · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A spirit associated with a bone in a deer’s heart.

In the book. The sentence does not say that the headword names the whole animal, its blood, or every substance obtained from it.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 42; facsimile PDF page 370.

Historical Definition

Scacurcula is the spirit of a bone in the heart of a hart.

Meaning

Hart means a male deer. The definition relates a spirit to a particular bodily material and location: a bone in the hart’s heart. Cerviculæ gives a closely matching description, explicitly calling its subject a spirit made from that bone. This comparison is more secure than assigning an unstated modern composition to the spirit.

Use in the Book

The sentence does not say that the headword names the whole animal, its blood, or every substance obtained from it. Preserving the chain of relations makes this unusual definition easier to read.

Places to Read

Cerviculæ. A spirit preparation identified through a particular animal material.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 42; facsimile PDF page 370 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Scacurcula; 1650 facsimile PDF p. 370; compare Cerviculæ

See also. Cerviculæ

562

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.