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 divinatory looking-glass described with a critical judgement.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 11; facsimile PDF page 339.
Historical definition
Berillus is a crystalline looking-glass superstitiously consecrated by augurs.
Meaning
The definition combines the object’s character, its consecration and its users. The glass is described as crystalline, and the augurs’ treatment of it is called superstitious. The entry is therefore more than a neutral material description. The evaluative word tells us how the dictionary positions this use of the object.
It does not give enough information to reconstruct the glass’s shape or to identify one modern optical instrument. Berillistica supplies the associated act of observing visions, while Augurista describes a practitioner. Those links are more secure than an unsupported reconstruction based on the name alone.
Places to read
- BerillusRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- BerillisticaA practice of viewing visions in the glasses described under Berillus.
- AuguristaA diviner defined by media, bird signs and a hostile evaluation.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 11; facsimile PDF page 339 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Berillus ; compare Berillistica, Augurista