Illustration of Joseph Duchesne (1544-1609) taken from Recueil des plus curieux et rares secrets published in 1641. Duchesne was an influential figure of his time & an advocate of chemical medicine. He took the position that Hippocrates & the ancients, & Galen, were worthy of study, but that more recent discoveries such as the use of metallic salts should be taken into account in the treatment of disease. His was a conciliatory approach to the old & the new ways. The main exponents `of the new chemical medicine were Paracelsus & Agricola.