From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordA preservative substance described in both bodily and external forms.
- In the bookThe qualified Balsamum entries concern flesh and the external elements, while Botin supplies a direct turpentine name.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 10; facsimile PDF page 338.
Historical definition
Balsamum is a bodily substance preserving things from putrefaction. It is internal and external. Internally in a human being, it is a certain temperate substance, neither bitter, sweet nor sour; not mineral salt, but the salt of liquor, which strongly preserves the body from putrefaction. Externally it is turpentine that has never been subjected to fire, but has been digested.
Meaning
The opening statement defines Balsamum by its attributed action: preserving against putrefaction. The entry then divides the account into internal and external forms. These are not decorative subdivisions. The internal substance is described through bodily preservation, temperateness, excluded tastes and a distinction between mineral salt and salt of liquor. The external form is identified instead with a particular condition of turpentine.
The external qualification is unusually precise: it has been digested, but not subjected to fire. A reader should preserve that difference rather than equate every heated turpentine preparation with the balsam intended here. The dictionary supplies a defining history of treatment, though not a complete account of how that digestion is conducted.
Use in the book
The qualified Balsamum entries concern flesh and the external elements, while Botin supplies a direct turpentine name. Read the group with the internal/external distinction in view. A common headword does not make every balsam one material, and the preservation attributed to the internal form is a historical explanation of life rather than a modern physiological identification.
Places to read
- BalsamumRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- Balsamum de MumiisA balsam defined through extraction from flesh.
- Balsamum Elementorum externumAn external elemental balsam explained through Mercury, Mumia and firmamental essence.
- BotinA historical name for turpentine.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 10; facsimile PDF page 338 — Facsimile