The Anatomy of Melancholy

by Robert Burton

• Simples purging melancholy
  • [1. Subs.] Upward, as vomits
    • Asrabecca, laurel, white hellebore, scilla, or sea-onion, antimony, tobacco
  • or Downward. [2. Subs.]
    • More gentle; as senna, epithyme, polypody, mirobalanes, fumitory, &c.
    • Stronger; aloes, lapis Armenus, lapis lazuli, black hellebore.
• or [3. Subs.] Compounds purging melancholy
  • Superior parts
    • Mouth
      • swallowed
      • or Not swallowed, as gargarisms, masticatories, &c.
    • or Nostrils, sneezing powders, odoraments, perfumes, &c.
  • or Inferior parts, as clysters strong and weak, and suppositories of Castilian soap, honey boiled, &c.

• Phlebotomy, to all parts almost, and all the distinct species.
• With knife, horseleeches.
• Cupping-glasses.
• Cauteries, and searing with hot irons, boring.
• Dropax and sinapismus.
• Issues to several parts, and upon several occasions.

• [1. Subsect.] Moderate diet, meat of good juice, moistening, easy of digestion.
• Good air.
• Sleep more than ordinary.
• Excrements daily to be voided by art or nature.
• Exercise of body and mind not too violent, or too remiss, passions of the mind, and perturbations to be avoided.
• [Subsect. 2.] Bloodletting, if there be need, or that the blood be corrupt, in the arm, forehead, &c., or with cupping-glasses.
• [Subsect. 3.] Preparatives and purgers.
  • Preparatives; as syrup of borage, bugloss, epithyme, hops, with their distilled waters, &c.
  • Purgers; as Montanus, and Matthiolus helleborismus, Quercetanus, syrup of hellebore, extract of hellebore, pulvis Hali, antimony prepared, Rulandi aqua mirabilis; which are used, if gentler medicines will not take place, with Arnoldus, vinum buglossatum, senna, cassia, mirobalanes, aurum potabile, or before Hamech, Pil. Indae, Hiera, Pil. de lap. Armeno, lazuli.
• [Subsect. 4.] Averters.
  • Cardan's nettles, frictions, clysters, suppositories, sneezings, masticatories, nasals, cupping-glasses.
  • To open the haemorrhoids with horseleeches, to apply horseleeches to the forehead without scarification, to the shoulders, thighs.
  • Issues, boring, cauteries, hot irons in the suture of the crown.
• [Subsect. 5.] Cordials, resolvers, hinderers.
  • A cup of wine or strong drink.
  • Bezars stone, amber, spice.
  • Conserves of borage, bugloss, roses, fumitory.
  • Confection of Alchermes.
  • Electuarium laetificans Galeni et Rhasis, &c.
  • Diamargaritum frig. diaboraginatum, &c.
• [Subsect. 6.] Correctors of accidents, as,
  • Odoraments of roses, violets.
  • Irrigations of the head, with the decoctions of nymphea, lettuce, mallows, &c.
  • Epithymes, ointments, bags to the heart.
  • Fomentations of oil for the belly.
  • Baths of sweet water, in which were sod mallows, violets, roses, water-lilies, borage flowers, ramsheads, &c.
  • To procure sleep, and are
    • Inwardly taken,
      • Simples
      • or Compounds.
    • or Outwardly used, as
      • Oil of nymphea, poppy, violets, roses, mandrake, nutmegs.
      • Odoraments of vinegar, rosewater, opium.
      • Frontals of rose-cake, rose-vinegar, nutmeg.
      • Ointments, alablastritum, unguentum populeum, simple or mixed with opium.
      • Irrigations of the head, feet, sponges, music, murmur and noise of waters.
      • Frictions of the head and outward parts, sacculi of henbane, wormwood at his pillow, &c.
  • Against terrible dreams; not to sup late, or eat peas, cabbage, venison, meats heavy of digestion, use balm, hart's-tongue, &c.
  • Against ruddiness and blushing, inward and outward remedies.

• Diet, preparatives, purges, averters, cordials, correctors, as before.
• Phlebotomy in this kind more necessary, and more frequent.
• To correct and cleanse the blood with fumitory, senna, succory, dandelion, endive, &c.

• [Subsect. 1] Phlebotomy, if need require.
• Diet, preparatives, averters, cordials, purgers, as before, saving that they must not be so vehement.
• Use of pennyroyal, wormwood, centaury sod, which alone hath cured many.
• To provoke urine with aniseed, daucus, asarum, &c., and stools, if need be, by clysters and suppositories.
• To respect the spleen, stomach, liver, hypochondries.
• To use treacle now and then in winter.
• To vomit after meals sometimes, if it be inveterate.
• [Subsect. 2.] To expel wind.
  • Inwardly Taken,
    • Simples,
      • Roots,
      • Herbs,
      • Spices,
      • Seeds,
    • or Compounds, as
      • Dianisum, diagalanga, diaciminum, diacalaminthes, electuarium de baccis lauri, benedicta laxativa, &c. pulvia carminativus, and pulvis descrip. Antidotario Florentine, aromaticum, rosatum, Mithridate.
  • or Outwardly used, as cupping-glasses to the hypochonries without scarification, oil of camomile, rue, aniseed, their decoctions, &c.

THE SECOND PARTITION.

THE CURE OF MELANCHOLY.

THE FIRST SECTION, MEMBER, SUBSECTION.

Unlawful Cures rejected.

Inveterate Melancholy, howsoever it may seem to be a continuate, inexorable disease, hard to be cured, accompanying them to their graves, most part, as [2789]Montanus observes, yet many times it may be helped, even that which is most violent, or at least, according to the same [2790]author, “it may be mitigated and much eased.” Nil desperandum. It may be hard to cure, but not impossible for him that is most grievously affected, if he but willing to be helped.