From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordCalcination described through the action of a corrosive fume.
- In the bookColcothar names a calcined material, whereas Fumigatio names an operation.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 23; facsimile PDF page 351.
Historical definition
Fumigatio is calcining a thing with a sharp, corrosive fume.
Meaning
The means of treatment is essential: the matter is calcined with a sharp, corrosive fume. The definition therefore gives more than a general reference to smoke or scent. It identifies a reported action upon a subject, while leaving both the subject and the source of the fume unstated.
The adjectives describe the historical agent’s activity. They do not specify a particular gas or modern reagent, and the entry gives no apparatus, quantity or duration.
Use in the book
Colcothar names a calcined material, whereas Fumigatio names an operation. Corrosiva is a medical class defined through an eating-away action. Fusio concerns melting in fire. These distinctions help readers follow whether a passage is naming the treatment, its product or a different type of change.
Places to read
In this edition
The modernised definition retains fume and corrosion without supplying a practical reconstruction. A specific preparation needs evidence from the author’s actual account.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 23; facsimile PDF page 351 — Facsimile