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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 DictionaryCathimia

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English Edition · Branch 94 of 740

Cathimia

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A Chymical Dictionary

p. 94

Cathimia

Metals minerals and metallic preparations · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A silver-related product described as scum.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 14; facsimile PDF page 342.

Historical Definition

Cathimia is the scum of silver.

Meaning

The word identifies a portion or product associated with silver, rather than simply the metal in every state. “Scum” gives its relation to a separation or working, but the entry does not explain which process produces it. A reader should look for that operation in the surrounding source.

Calx Luna gives a different silver preparation, the azure flower. The two should remain distinct unless a cited passage explicitly connects them. Shared origin in silver is not by itself proof of identical material.

Places to Read

Calx Luna. A silver preparation characterized through blue colour and flower vocabulary.

Luna. The lunar name denotes silver.

Scuma. A name referred to squama or scale.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 14; facsimile PDF page 342 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Cathimia ; compare Calx Luna, Luna, Scuma

See also. Calx Luna; Luna; Scuma

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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.