A Chymical Dictionary

Vulcanus

Elements principles and the natural world · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A name directly equated with fire.

In the book. Vulcanii and Vulcanici name those continually occupied about fire, while Reverberatorium is a furnace in which flame calcines matter.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 47; facsimile PDF page 375.

Historical Definition

Vulcanus is fire.

Meaning

The definition gives a natural or operative equivalent for a name that a reader may also encounter in mythic form. Here the local gloss is simply fire. The sentence does not specify a furnace, a fuel, a degree of heat or a particular practitioner.

Use in the Book

Vulcanii and Vulcanici name those continually occupied about fire, while Reverberatorium is a furnace in which flame calcines matter. The three entries distinguish the active element or agent, the workers and one instrument. Keeping those relations visible is more useful than substituting the same general explanation into each article.

Other fire entries work differently again. Salamandri are described as dwellers in fire; Sol in homine concerns an invisible inward fire nourished from the celestial sun. The present equivalence does not make every occurrence of fire within these descriptions identical.

Places to Read

Reverberatorium. A furnace defined by flame calcination.

Salamandri. Spirits or fiery men associated with residence in fire.

Sol in homine. An inward solar fire related to the celestial sun.

In This Edition

The headword remains available beside the English fire. Its role in an individual passage should be established from the action and its subject, rather than expanded automatically into a complete mythological interpretation.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 47; facsimile PDF page 375 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Vulcanus; 1650 facsimile PDF p. 375; compare Reverberatorium, Salamandri, Sol in homine, Vulcanii

See also. Reverberatorium; Salamandri; Sol in homine; Vulcanii