From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordA digestion term whose listed means extend beyond horse dung.
- In the bookDigestio explains the operation through the analogy of a stomach and separation of pure from impure.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 22; facsimile PDF page 350.
Historical definition
Fimus equinus is a digestion carried out in any manner, whether by horse dung, warm ashes, or water.
Meaning
The definition deliberately broadens the range suggested by its name. Horse dung is one means of digestion, but warm ashes and water are also included. It would therefore be too narrow to translate every occurrence as a statement that the work is actually performed in horse dung.
The common feature is digestion, not an identical material setting. The entry supplies alternatives without giving temperatures, durations or equipment for any of them.
Use in the book
Digestio explains the operation through the analogy of a stomach and separation of pure from impure. Mensis Philosophicus gives a particular time associated with digestion. Those entries provide an account of purpose and a separate measure of time; the listed means here do not make that time universal.
Places to read
- Fimus equinusRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- DigestioPreparation understood through digestion and the separation of pure from impure.
- Mensis PhilosophicusA philosophical month measured as forty days of digestion.
In this edition
The modernised definition preserves all three examples. Its purpose is to clarify terminology, not to turn the examples into interchangeable procedures.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 22; facsimile PDF page 350 — Facsimile