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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 DictionaryEscara

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English Edition · Branch 490 of 740

Escara

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 490

Escara

Body disease and historical medicine · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. Dead flesh described as the result of a caustic action.

In the book. Corrosiva concerns surgical medicines that eat away superfluous flesh; Cauterium includes an instrument that opens skin by burning and a medicine said to produce the effect without pain.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 21; facsimile PDF page 349.

Historical Definition

Escara, or Estphara, is black, dead flesh caused by a caustic, commonly called an eschar.

Meaning

The definition identifies the appearance and the reported cause together. The flesh is black and dead, and a caustic is said to have caused its condition. The modern word eschar clarifies the old closing form Escar without adding a procedure.

Use in the Book

Corrosiva concerns surgical medicines that eat away superfluous flesh; Cauterium includes an instrument that opens skin by burning and a medicine said to produce the effect without pain. These comparisons explain the historical action vocabulary surrounding Escara. The entry names the resulting condition rather than prescribing how to produce it.

Places to Read

Cauterium. A name shared by a burning instrument and a medicine credited with a similar effect.

Corrosiva. Surgical preparations classified by removal of excess flesh.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 21; facsimile PDF page 349 — Facsimile

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

See also. Cauterium; Corrosiva

490

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.