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 bodily product defined through renal separation.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 4; facsimile PDF page 332.
Historical definition
Anodus is what the kidneys separate from nourishment.
Meaning
The definition organizes the body through an act of separation: nourishment enters the account, the kidneys act, and something is removed from it. It identifies Anodus by origin and agency rather than by colour or composition. The short sentence gives no warrant for expanding it into a particular modern biochemical substance. In historical medical prose, attend to whether the writer is describing the separated material, the organ’s action or a failure of that action. Those are related but distinct subjects.
Places to read
- AnodusRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- BaulA historical name identifying urine.
- ExcrementaSuperfluities described through expulsion by Nature.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 4; facsimile PDF page 332 — Facsimile
Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Anodus ; compare Baul, Excrementa