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 whose formation is related to cloud moisture, stones and solar heat.
- In the bookLaxa Chimolea names salt growing upon stones, while Sal petre adds cold places and congealing by cold air.
- In this editionA textual note records the reading of the 1650 printing and the editorial treatment.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 34; facsimile PDF page 362.
Historical definition
Nebulgea is salt formed when moisture from a cloud falls upon stones in meadows and is hardened by the sun’s heat. 1
Meaning
The account places the material within a sequence: moisture descends, rests upon stones and is hardened through heat from the sun. The setting in meadows is also retained. The definition describes an origin or formation, rather than a salt recovered by an artificial extraction.
Use in the book
Laxa Chimolea names salt growing upon stones, while Sal petre adds cold places and congealing by cold air. The entries connect salts with their settings and different accounts of how they acquire solidity.
Places to read
- NebulgeaRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- Laxa ChimoleaA salt distinguished by its growth on stones.
- Sal petreA salt described through cold air and growth on stone.
In this edition
The modernised definition reads cloud where the original prints loud. The missing initial letter is a disclosed correction, not a new kind of material or an interpretation of loudness. The source record preserves the defective reading and its textual note.
Source note
1. The original has “loud falling upon stones,” apparently omitting the initial c of cloud. The modernised definition supplies cloud, following the sense and the transcription aid.
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 34; facsimile PDF page 362 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymical Dictionary 1650, 1650 dictionary, facsimile PDF page 362, Nebulgea