Greater and lesser heat

Meaning

Greater heat dispersing lesser heat is the logical role of the concluding burn comparison. It is an unsafe historical therapeutic analogy, not advice to bring a burn toward fire.

III.18 uses the example to explain why one force can make another yield even when both bear the same general name. In the adjoining salt argument, the substances are alike but their effects differ: one hardens, another dissolves. The heat comparison thus supports a distinction between nominal likeness and opposed action. It does not establish the efficacy of oil of salt, provide a dose, or justify repeating the burn practice. The reader needs the argumentative relation, not a practical demonstration.

The English retains the comparative greater/lesser structure and the claimed relief of pain as the author's assertion. Note 276 expressly identifies the hazardous character of the analogy without altering what the source says.