DiotimosReading Desk

Body disease and historical medicine

Cambuca

A localized condition described through an abscess or ulcer.

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 localized condition described through an abscess or ulcer.
  • A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 14; facsimile PDF page 342.

Historical definition

Cambuca is an abscess or ulcer in the groin.

Meaning

The location is part of the identification, not an optional detail. The entry gives alternative lesion descriptions but does not state their cause, course or remedy. A modernisation should therefore preserve the groin reference and the alternatives without assigning a specific modern infection or diagnosis.

Compare Carbunculus, where the dictionary again gives an abscess or ulcer description with a different qualification. Similar lesion vocabulary can recur in distinct entries; the additional words help the reader avoid merging them.

Places to read

  1. CambucaRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
  2. CarbunculusA historical lesion term with a pestilential qualification.
  3. ExituraAn abscess characterised by discharging matter.

Source note

Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 14; facsimile PDF page 342 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Cambuca ; compare Carbunculus, Exitura