From the book
Sal Lumen and Spiritus Mundi Philosophici
Clovis Hesteau de Nuysement · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Meaning
The acorn’s asserted lack of diminution, and the comparison between the weight of ingested food and expelled matter, function as premises in Nuysement’s account of growth. They help him argue that increase comes from embodied spirit rather than simple enlargement of an original seed or retention of all the eater’s visible food.
The supplied English transmits those premises instead of replacing them with a modern account. Neither the translation nor this lexicon has established the measurements experimentally. A number, weight comparison or claim of unchanged quantity should therefore be read with its speaker and argumentative use, not promoted to an independently verified observation. This distinction is compatible with explaining the historical reasoning in full.
Places to read
- Book Two · Chapter 1 · Unit 9The oak declines into earth rather than simply dying; persistent vapour generates polypodies, vermin or new vegetation. The author denies growth by acorn enlargement or soil addition and uses digestive mass claims to conclude that spirit alone embodies.
- Book Two · Chapter 3 · Unit 21Nutritive spirit rather than bulk supplies life's oil; excrement is its dwelling/chariot. The author qualifies that not all corporeal material is mere excrement, distinguishes invisible substance from displayed bulk, and argues art can reveal what natural digestion only demonstrates by effects.
Supplied apparatus
Supplied edition, notes 102, 160