LUTE

(It. liuto.) A musical stringed instrument of the guitar species, and played in a similar way; but in form more resembling the section of a pear, with a back in ribs, like those of a melon. LUTES, in Chemistry, applications by which the junctions of ve els are rendered tight. A gla retort is said to be luted when smeared over with clay, so as more perfectly to resist the effects of heat, and to prevent its fusion. Common lute is a mixture of pipe-clay, linseed meal, and water, and is spread upon paper and applied to the joinings of stills and of retorts and receivers. Fat lute is a mixture of pipe-clay and linseed oil. LUTHER ANS, or [s. 701]