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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 DictionaryLiquor essentialis

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English Edition · Branch 517 of 740

Liquor essentialis

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 517

Liquor essentialis

Body disease and historical medicine · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. An assimilable humour described through its becoming flesh and blood.

In the book. Liquor salis is described through preservation from putrefaction, and Liquor Mercurii through healing power.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 30; facsimile PDF page 358.

Historical Definition

Liquor essentialis is the humour that is converted into flesh and blood.

Meaning

Essentialis does not here mean a fragrant essential oil. The liquid is defined by what happens to it in the living body: it becomes flesh and blood. The entry therefore concerns the material of nourishment and bodily formation, rather than a general label for any highly purified extract.

Use in the Book

Liquor salis is described through preservation from putrefaction, and Liquor Mercurii through healing power. Those qualifications distinguish different roles within the book’s accounts of the living body.

Places to Read

Liquor Mercurii. A mercurial liquor defined as the seat of healing power.

Liquor salis. A saline liquor understood through its preservative action.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 30; facsimile PDF page 358 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymical Dictionary 1650, 1650 dictionary, facsimile PDF page 358, Liquor essentialis

See also. Liquor Mercurii; Liquor salis

517

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.