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 bodily growth named with an additional historical medicinal use.
- In the bookFormicæ describes small wart-like swellings, and Laudanum is another medicine whose ingredients are more fully named.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 22; facsimile PDF page 350.
Historical definition
Ficus cutis is a wart growing on the skin of a horse’s legs, and a medicine to help diseases of the matrix.
Meaning
The entry first identifies a wart on a horse’s legs and then attributes a medicinal use concerning the matrix. Both clauses belong to the source. The second should not be allowed to obscure the bodily origin stated in the first.
Use in the book
Formicæ describes small wart-like swellings, and Laudanum is another medicine whose ingredients are more fully named. These comparisons help distinguish a description of a bodily growth from a claim about its use as a remedy. This entry gives no preparation or conditions for that claimed application.
Places to read
- Ficus cutisRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- FormicæSmall bodily swellings described by comparison with warts.
- LaudanumA Paracelsian compound defined here through gold, coral and pearl.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 22; facsimile PDF page 350 — Facsimile