From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordGold distinguished by calcination.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 13; facsimile PDF page 341.
Historical definition
Calx Solis is calcined gold.
Meaning
The definition gives a familiar material in a prepared condition. The planetary form of the name is decoded explicitly as gold; the action is calcination. A reader should preserve that preparation rather than replace the complete expression with unqualified gold.
Compare Aurum planatum, a worked leaf form, and Aurum vitæ, which is described through precipitation, reverberation and redness. The shared gold vocabulary does not make those products interchangeable. The dictionary supplies separate entries because form and treatment can be central to the intended sense.
Places to read
- Calx SolisRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- ChrysosA direct name equivalence for gold.
- Aurum planatumGold identified by being beaten into a thin form.
- Aurum vitæA gold preparation identified through precipitation, heating and intense redness.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 13; facsimile PDF page 341 — Facsimile