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 spirit associated with a bone in a deer’s heart.
- In the bookThe sentence does not say that the headword names the whole animal, its blood, or every substance obtained from it.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 42; facsimile PDF page 370.
Historical definition
Scacurcula is the spirit of a bone in the heart of a hart.
Meaning
Hart means a male deer. The definition relates a spirit to a particular bodily material and location: a bone in the hart’s heart. Cerviculæ gives a closely matching description, explicitly calling its subject a spirit made from that bone. This comparison is more secure than assigning an unstated modern composition to the spirit.
Use in the book
The sentence does not say that the headword names the whole animal, its blood, or every substance obtained from it. Preserving the chain of relations makes this unusual definition easier to read.
Places to read
- ScacurculaRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- CerviculæA spirit preparation identified through a particular animal material.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 42; facsimile PDF page 370 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Scacurcula; 1650 facsimile PDF p. 370; compare Cerviculæ