From the book
Sal Lumen and Spiritus Mundi Philosophici
Clovis Hesteau de Nuysement · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordOrdinary medicine is the practice Nuysement contrasts with medicine founded upon the purified inward principles of things.
- In Sal LumenIn Book II he says he has no intention of offending physicians and honors them as commanded.
- In this editionThe supplied English keeps “ordinary” separate from the morally charged accusations elsewhere directed at impostors.
- A place to readRespect for physicians qualifies the criticism of impure preparations.
Meaning
Ordinary medicine is the practice Nuysement contrasts with medicine founded upon the purified inward principles of things. Ordinary or vulgar does not itself mean fraudulent, ignorant or worthless. The polemic targets the preparation and action of remedies, and it is expressly qualified by respect for physicians and acknowledgment of their learning.
Use in the book
In Book II he says he has no intention of offending physicians and honors them as commanded. His complaint is that they do too little to encourage apothecaries to prepare medicines more diligently. Coarse drinks are said to contain so much impure matter that the small helping substance cannot act and Nature is burdened by remedy as well as disease. The comparison to corrupted weapons criticizes the means of treatment, not simply the existence of medical care.
The following discussion distinguishes support from restoration. Carefully chosen food can sustain a weakened life, but is said not to remove the cause of disease. Purging is not rejected altogether; it is inadequate if it removes irrelevant matter without restoring life, and dangerous if excessive evacuation further weakens the patient. A true medicine, in Nuysement’s scheme, must both purge and restore. Infusion is criticized for drawing outward taste rather than inward power; adding sweetness from sugar or honey is not the hidden natural sweetness he seeks.
Book III returns to the contrast of surface and centre. Ordinary physicians are called learned, and Pena’s oat-root practice is acknowledged to give relief. The proposed perfected extract is only then said conditionally to promise complete cure. The complaint that such preparations are corrosive is not denied without qualification: the author concedes danger when taken alone or excessively. His response remains a historical therapeutic argument, not evidence that a preparation is safe or effective.
Places to read
- Book Two · Chapter 3 · Unit 10Respect for physicians qualifies the criticism of impure preparations.
- Book Two · Chapter 3 · Unit 11Food, purgation, restoration and dangerous excess evacuation.
- Book Two · Chapter 3 · Unit 27The critique of infusion and superficial sweetness.
- Book Three · Unit 18Learned ordinary practitioners, Pena’s relief and the qualified corrosive objection.
Translation
The supplied English keeps “ordinary” separate from the morally charged accusations elsewhere directed at impostors. Its distinction between witnessed relief and the cure that “would” follow a different preparation is particularly important. The lexicon does not turn this polemic into advice to replace or reject contemporary medical treatment.
Attested forms
vulgaire procedure; breuvages; medecine ordinaire; medecine