From the book
A Chymical Dictionary
Gerhard Dorn and John French · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordBodily tartar associated with a dangerous stone-like formation.
- In the bookTartarum connects the dregs in wine vessels with stones or gravel in human bodies.
- A place to readThe 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
- DuelechRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- ColicaA bowel disorder explained through the historical category of tartar.
- DubelechThe cavity within a historical imposteme or abscess.
- Gemma tartareaA 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.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 20; facsimile PDF page 348 — Facsimile