From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordMedicines classified by their claimed strengthening action.
- In the bookConservativa is defined through preserving Nature from putrefaction.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 17; facsimile PDF page 345.
Historical definition
Confortativa, or Confortantia, are medicines that comfort the heart and strengthen Nature.
Meaning
The two names designate a medical class through its reported effect on the heart and on Nature. “Comfort” carries a sense of support or strengthening here, made explicit by the second clause. It is wider than offering emotional reassurance and should not be restricted to that modern everyday use.
The entry supplies no ingredients. Its category can gather different preparations under a common claimed action, rather than identify one substance. “Nature” likewise belongs to the historical explanation of the body’s activity and capacity; it is not a named ingredient in the medicine.
Use in the book
Conservativa is defined through preserving Nature from putrefaction. Mitigativa is another effect-based class, concerned with allaying pain. Reading these alongside Confortativa shows how the dictionary classifies remedies by the kind of assistance they are said to provide, rather than by a single modern mechanism.
Places to read
- ConfortativaRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- ConservativaPreserving medicines explained through astral virtue.
- MitigativaA class of surgical medicines defined by easing pain.
In this edition
The definition reports how the historical book organises medicines. It does not substantiate a claim that a preparation strengthens a present-day patient’s heart.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 17; facsimile PDF page 345 — Facsimile