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 calx expression identified with tartar.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 13; facsimile PDF page 341.
Historical definition
Calx peregrinorum is tartar.
Meaning
This short identification is valuable because it resists a uniform translation of Calx as ordinary lime or ash. Within this compound, the dictionary expressly gives tartar. The complete historical name should therefore be retained in the index, with a route into Tartarum for the larger family.
The entry does not describe the tartar’s source or treatment. Where a recipe adds those details, they belong to that particular use. A bare equivalence should not be expanded into an invented preparation.
Places to read
- Calx peregrinorumRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- TartarumA wine-vessel deposit whose name also serves for bodily stones or gravel.
- AdamitaAn otherwise unspecified variety of tartar.
- AlembrotA purified preparation identified with salt of tartar and its magistery.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 13; facsimile PDF page 341 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Calx peregrinorum ; compare Tartarum, Adamita, Alembrot