A Chymical Dictionary

Confortativa

Body disease and historical medicine · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. Medicines classified by their claimed strengthening action.

In the book. Conservativa is defined through preserving Nature from putrefaction.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 17; facsimile PDF page 345.

Historical Definition

Confortativa, or Confortantia, are medicines that comfort the heart and strengthen Nature.

Meaning

The two names designate a medical class through its reported effect on the heart and on Nature. “Comfort” carries a sense of support or strengthening here, made explicit by the second clause. It is wider than offering emotional reassurance and should not be restricted to that modern everyday use.

The entry supplies no ingredients. Its category can gather different preparations under a common claimed action, rather than identify one substance. “Nature” likewise belongs to the historical explanation of the body’s activity and capacity; it is not a named ingredient in the medicine.

Use in the Book

Conservativa is defined through preserving Nature from putrefaction. Mitigativa is another effect-based class, concerned with allaying pain. Reading these alongside Confortativa shows how the dictionary classifies remedies by the kind of assistance they are said to provide, rather than by a single modern mechanism.

Places to Read

Conservativa. Preserving medicines explained through astral virtue.

Mitigativa. A class of surgical medicines defined by easing pain.

In This Edition

The definition reports how the historical book organises medicines. It does not substantiate a claim that a preparation strengthens a present-day patient’s heart.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 17; facsimile PDF page 345 — Facsimile

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

See also. Conservativa; Mitigativa