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 varied category of metallic matter understood as unripe.
- In the bookKachimia similarly concerns the first, unripe state of metallic ore.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 32; facsimile PDF page 360.
Historical definition
Marcasita is an unripe matter of metals, with as many kinds as there are metals.
Meaning
The dictionary does not give one fixed mineral identity. It defines a category by its relation to metallic development and expressly multiplies its kinds according to the metals. Unripe therefore does explanatory work: the matter is discussed in relation to a condition it has not yet attained.
Use in the book
Kachimia similarly concerns the first, unripe state of metallic ore. Magnesia is commonly used for a marcasite, but its artificial sense is separately described as a white, brittle mixture. Those links give both a near parallel and a reminder that one name may cover different accounts.
Places to read
In this edition
A later restricted mineral use of marcasite is not substituted for the compiler’s plural and developmental definition.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 32; facsimile PDF page 360 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymical Dictionary 1650, 1650 dictionary, facsimile PDF page 360, Marcasita