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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 DictionaryAttractiva

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English Edition · Branch 457 of 740

Attractiva

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 457

Attractiva

Body disease and historical medicine · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. Medicines classified by a claimed power of attraction.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 8; facsimile PDF page 336.

Historical Definition

Attractiva are magnetic medicines with the power to draw to themselves things composed of similar attractives.

Meaning

The definition explains attraction through likeness between the attracting medicine and what is drawn. “Magnetic” therefore belongs to an account of affinity and action, rather than identifying an ordinary magnet as the sole ingredient. The plural names a class of medicines, not one preparation.

When reading a therapeutic passage, distinguish the attributed drawing power, its object and the substance said to exercise it. The dictionary supplies the relation but no verified treatment outcome. A material’s inclusion in this category records a historical explanation of efficacy. It does not establish that the attractive action occurred as claimed.

Places to Read

Magneticus tartarus. A bodily stone described by hardness and a spongy structure.

Repercussiva. Medicines classified by their supposed action of driving a flow back.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 8; facsimile PDF page 336 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Attractiva ; compare Magneticus tartarus, Repercussiva

See also. Magneticus tartarus; Repercussiva

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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.