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 jelly-like substance connected with the popular name falling star.
- In the bookCalcinatum minus includes Nostock among naturally sweet things.
- A place to readThe 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
- NostochRead the complete historical definition and its commentary.
- Calcinatum minusA class of naturally sweet substances credited with healing power.
- NubaA 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.
Source note
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