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 viscous matter given a role in persistent disease.
- In the bookCongluten is matter made viscous through putrefaction.
- A place to readThe historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 24; facsimile PDF page 352.
Historical definition
Gluten is viscous matter in the body from which many obstinate diseases proceed.
Meaning
The definition supplies a bodily material and a causal claim. The material is viscous, and many obstinate diseases are said to proceed from it. The dictionary does not identify a single fluid or tissue, nor explain the process by which a disease arises.
“Obstinate” describes the historical judgement about the diseases’ persistence. It is not a modern classification of a named illness. The entry remains general even though its claim about disease is broad.
Use in the book
Congluten is matter made viscous through putrefaction. Gluta names the efficacy of tenacious pitch, and Glutinis tenacitas identifies mineral resin. These links show how adhesion and viscosity organise several names across bodily and material settings, without making them one substance.
Places to read
- GlutenRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- ConglutenViscous matter described as the product of putrefaction.
- GlutaThe power attributed to strongly adhering pitch.
- Glutinis tenacitasA phrase directly identified as mineral resin.
In this edition
The edition reports the historical causal statement while leaving its material identification open. A modern diagnostic label would add a specificity absent from the source.
Source note
Historical source. 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 24; facsimile PDF page 352 — Facsimile