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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 DictionaryHeliotropium

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English Edition · Branch 503 of 740

Heliotropium

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 503

Heliotropium

Body disease and historical medicine · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A balm name attributed to Paracelsian usage.

In the book. Balsamum is a substance credited with preserving things from putrefaction.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 25; facsimile PDF page 353.

Historical Definition

Heliotropium is Paracelsus’s balm.

Meaning

The attribution controls the gloss. The entry does not simply identify a plant by a familiar-looking name; it calls Heliotropium Paracelsus’s balm. No ingredients or further description are supplied here.

Use in the Book

Balsamum is a substance credited with preserving things from putrefaction. Helismidan is a balsamic mummy. These comparisons provide the dictionary’s general balm vocabulary, but neither gives a recipe for Heliotropium. The particular author’s use must be consulted before assigning it the composition of another named balm.

Places to Read

Balsamum. A preservative substance described in both bodily and external forms.

Helismidan. A mummy preparation qualified through balsamic character.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 25; facsimile PDF page 353 — Facsimile

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

See also. Balsamum; Helismidan

503

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.