a viscid, elastic, grayish-coloured substance which exists in greater or less quantity in most plants that afford farina, as well as in the leaves of many esculent vegetables (such as the cabbage for instance), but more particularly in wheat, which of all the cerealia appears to contain, in proportion to its bulk, the greatest amount of nutriment, a property derived from its abounding in this substance. Gluten may be readily obtained from wheaten flour by making it into a paste, and then working the mass with the hands below a stream of water, when the starch and other soluble matters are carried away, and the gluten remains in a pure state. In its properties gluten bears a strong resemblance to animal substances; and, indeed, it is found by chemical analysis to contain a large proportion of nitrogen. Hence it may be considered as the most animalized of vegetable products.