From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe formation of a metal paste with quicksilver.
- In the bookThe entry is also useful beside the philosophical Mercury vocabulary.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 3; facsimile PDF page 331.
Historical definition
Amalgama is the making of gold, silver or another metal into a paste with quicksilver.
Meaning
This entry defines an action through its materials and the condition produced. Gold and silver are examples rather than an exhaustive list; quicksilver is the common participant; a paste is the named result. The wording is therefore more informative than a bare equation between Amalgama and a single metal mixture. It records what the practitioner is doing to the metal.
In a historical passage, distinguish the forming of this paste from later operations performed upon it. A writer may retain the same material name while describing a changed condition, but the dictionary’s definition covers the act of combining into the stated form. It does not give proportions, temperature or a complete sequence.
Use in the book
The entry is also useful beside the philosophical Mercury vocabulary. Here the account explicitly joins quicksilver to familiar metals and a recognizable material texture. A passage concerning Anima or Aquila Philosophorum may operate with a wider or differently qualified Mercury concept.
Places to read
- AmalgamaRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- Mercurius CrudusMercury described before separation from its mineral source.
- Aquila PhilosophorumThe philosophers’ eagle explained as metallic first matter.
- AnimaA designation of “our Mercury” through the language of soul.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 3; facsimile PDF page 331 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Amalgama ; compare Mercurius Crudus, Aquila Philosophorum, Anima