protyle

noun

1. (countable, historical, physical, uncountable)A hypothetical base substance from which all chemical elements were believed to have been made; subatomic particles.

   “Two principles are postulated, according to which the elements have probably been evolved: (1) the ontogenic principle, involving the formation of the primary members of the different groups by direct condensation of protyl; (2) the phytogenetic principle, by which the higher members of the groups are developed from the lower by a process of integration.”

   “Dumas wondered whether the fundamental building blocks of atoms might be some smaller division of the hydrogen atom: a half, say, or a quarter. This basic substance became known as ‘protyle’.”