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 salt distinguished by separation and an unsuccessful second digestion.
- In the bookDigestio defines the operation through the analogy of stomach digestion and separation of pure from impure.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 18; facsimile PDF page 346.
Historical definition
Cruor salis is salt separated from the first salt through a fault in the second digestion.
Meaning
The entry identifies the material through a sequence: an initial salt, a second digestion, and a separation attributed to a fault in that digestion. The name is therefore relational. It does not simply designate salt in general, nor explain what the first salt contains.
“Fault” is kept because the definition presents the separation as connected with a defect in the work. It would be misleading to rewrite the sentence as though every occurrence of a second digestion necessarily produced this salt. The nature of the fault is not explained.
Use in the book
Digestio defines the operation through the analogy of stomach digestion and separation of pure from impure. Impurum alcali names scum removed in purifying alkali. Both comparisons help readers attend to a material’s place within a preparation, rather than equating every separated salt or residue.
Places to read
- Cruor salisRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- DigestioPreparation understood through digestion and the separation of pure from impure.
- Impurum alcaliA residue distinguished through the purification of alkali.
In this edition
The commentary leaves the salt’s chemical identity open. A process-relative name can be understood at the level of the historical sequence even when the materials cannot be securely identified.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 18; facsimile PDF page 346 — Facsimile