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 naturally fixed condition illustrated through crystal.
- In this editionA textual note records the reading of the 1650 printing and the editorial treatment.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 15; facsimile PDF page 343.
Historical definition
Cherionium is that in which Nature cannot be altered, such as crystal, which is so hardened by nature that it cannot be melted like what is made by art. 1
Meaning
The historical account contrasts natural hardening with what art makes. Crystal supplies the example, and resistance to melting gives the claimed distinction. The statement should be preserved as the dictionary’s explanation, rather than generalized into a modern claim about every specimen or every temperature.
The first clause is broader than the example: it concerns a condition in which Nature cannot be altered. The reader should therefore distinguish the stated category from crystal as its illustration. A surrounding passage may apply the term through that claimed fixity without naming the same material.
Places to read
- CherioniumRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- FixatioAn operation defined through resistance to loss or flight in fire.
- Calx permanensA calx classified by resistance to burning.
Source note
1. The original prints Natture with a doubled t. The modernised definition reads Nature.
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 15; facsimile PDF page 343 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Cherionium ; compare Fixatio, Calx permanens