A Chymical Dictionary

Nostoch

Plants animals and natural materials · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A jelly-like substance connected with the popular name falling star.

In the book. Calcinatum minus includes Nostock among naturally sweet things.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 35; facsimile PDF page 363.

Historical Definition

Nostoch is what we call a falling star: a kind of jelly or slime often found in fields and meadows in summer.

Meaning

The compiler’s what we call introduces a name familiar to his readers, then describes something found on the ground. Jelly or slime, summer, fields and meadows supply the material and setting actually stated. The definition does not describe a witnessed trajectory from the sky or explain how the substance arrives there.

Use in the Book

Calcinatum minus includes Nostock among naturally sweet things. The name therefore occurs in more than one classificatory setting: here as a described natural occurrence, there among materials grouped through a quality. Nuba offers another account of a substance said to fall, but gives a different colour, name and location.

Places to Read

Calcinatum minus. A class of naturally sweet substances credited with healing power.

Nuba. A red kind of Manna reported in an Irish setting.

In This Edition

The popular falling-star designation is retained alongside the terrestrial description; it is neither silently converted into a modern identification nor treated as proof of celestial origin.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 35; facsimile PDF page 363 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymical Dictionary 1650, 1650 dictionary, facsimile PDF page 363, Nostoch

See also. Calcinatum minus; Nuba