A Chymical Dictionary

Duelech

Body disease and historical medicine · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. Bodily tartar associated with a dangerous stone-like formation.

In the book. Tartarum connects the dregs in wine vessels with stones or gravel in human bodies.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 20; facsimile PDF page 348.

Historical Definition

Duelech is a kind of tartar in the human body, or a dangerous, spongy stone in the bladder or another part.

Meaning

The entry combines a material category with a bodily location and a description. Tartar is the general category; the bladder is one stated site, but not the only one allowed. The formation is described as spongy and dangerous. Those features should remain together rather than being reduced to a modern name for a bladder stone.

The alternative phrasing permits a kind of tartar or a stone-like condition, without explaining precisely how the two are related. It gives neither an account of chemical composition nor a description of the body’s production of the material.

Use in the Book

Tartarum connects the dregs in wine vessels with stones or gravel in human bodies. Colica also applies tartar language to a bowel disorder. Gemma tartarea gives another account of a stone generated from tartar, but without the bodily location stated here. These comparisons show a wide historical category rather than one uniform modern substance.

Places to Read

Colica. A bowel disorder explained through the historical category of tartar.

Dubelech. The cavity within a historical imposteme or abscess.

Gemma tartarea. A stone described through the clarity and origin of its tartar.

In This Edition

Dubelech names a cavity of an abscess and should remain distinct despite its near-identical spelling. The edition uses that comparison to guard against a particularly easy confusion in searching or transcription.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 20; facsimile PDF page 348 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Duelech

See also. Colica; Dubelech; Gemma tartarea; Tartarum