The Anatomy of Melancholy

by Robert Burton

Empirics have a myriad of medicines, as to swallow a bullet of lead, &c., which I voluntarily omit. Amatus Lusitanus, cent. 4. curat. 54. for a hypochondriacal person, that was extremely tormented with wind, prescribes a strange remedy. Put a pair of bellows end into a clyster pipe, and applying it into the fundament, open the bowels, so draw forth the wind, natura non admittit vacuum. He vaunts he was the first invented this remedy, and by means of it speedily eased a melancholy man. Of the cure of this flatuous melancholy, read more in Fienus de Flatibus, cap. 26. et passim alias.

Against headache, vertigo, vapours which ascend forth of the stomach to molest the head, read Hercules de Saxonia, and others.

If costiveness offend in this, or any other of the three species, it is to be corrected with suppositories, clysters or lenitives, powder of senna, condite prunes, &c. ℞ Elect. lenit, e succo rosar. ana ℥ j. misce. Take as much as a nutmeg at a time, half an hour before dinner or supper, or pil. mastichin. ℥ j. in six pills, a pill or two at a time. See more in Montan. consil. 229. Hildesheim spicel. 2. P. Cnemander, and Montanus commend [4413]“Cyprian turpentine, which they would have familiarly taken, to the quantity of a small nut, two or three hours before dinner and supper, twice or thrice a week if need be; for besides that it keeps the belly soluble, it clears the stomach, opens obstructions, cleanseth the liver, provokes urine.”

These in brief are the ordinary medicines which belong to the cure of melancholy, which if they be used aright, no doubt may do much good; Si non levando saltem leniendo valent, peculiaria bene selecta, saith Bessardus, a good choice of particular receipts must needs ease, if not quite cure, not one, but all or most, as occasion serves. Et quae non prosunt singula, multa juvant.

THE SYNOPSIS OF THE THIRD PARTITION.

Love and love melancholy, [Memb. 1 Sect. 1.]

• Preface or Introduction. [Subsect. 1.]
• Love's definition, pedigree, object, fair, amiable, gracious, and pleasant, from which comes beauty, grace, which all desire and love, parts affected.
• Division or kinds, [Subs. 2.]
  • Natural, in things without life, as love and hatred of elements; and with life, as vegetable, vine and elm, sympathy, antipathy, &c.
  • Sensible, as of beasts, for pleasure, preservation of kind, mutual agreement, custom, bringing up together, &c.
  • or Rational
    • Simple, which hath three objects as [M. 2.]
      • Profitable, [Subs. 1.]
      • Pleasant, [Subs. 2.]
      • Honest, [Subs. 3.]
    • or Mixed of all three, which extends to [M. 3.]
      • Common good, our neighbour, country, friends, which is charity; the defect of which is cause of much discontent and melancholy.
      • or God, Sect. 4.

• [Memb. 1.] His pedigree, power, extent to vegetables and sensible creatures, as well as men, to spirits, devils, &c.
• His name, definition, object, part affected, tyranny. [[Subs. 2.]]
• Causes, [Memb. 2.]
  • Stars, temperature, full diet, place, country, clime, condition, idleness, [S. 1.]
  • Natural allurements, and causes of love, as beauty, its praise, how it allureth.
  • Comeliness, grace, resulting from the whole or some parts, as face, eyes, hair, hands, &c. [Subs. 2.]
  • Artificial allurements, and provocations of lust and love, gestures, apparel, dowry, money, &c.
  • Quest. Whether beauty owe more to Art or Nature? [Subs. 3.]
  • Opportunity of time and place, conference, discourse, music, singing, dancing, amorous tales, lascivious objects, familiarity, gifts, promises, &c. [Subs. 4.]
  • Bawds and Philters, [Subs. 5.]
• Symptoms or signs, [Memb. 3.]
  • Of body
    • Dryness, paleness, leanness, waking, sighing, &c.
    • Quest. An delur pulsus amatorius?
  • or Of mind.
    • Bad, as
      • Fear, sorrow, suspicion, anxiety, &c.
      • A hell, torment, fire, blindness, &c.
      • Dotage, slavery, neglect of business.
    • or Good, as
      • Spruceness, neatness, courage, aptness to learn music, singing, dancing, poetry, &c.
• Prognostics; despair, madness, frenzy, death, [Memb. 4.]
• Cures, [Memb. 5.]
  • By labour, diet, physic, abstinence, [Subs. 1.]
  • To withstand the beginnings, avoid occasions, fair and foul means, change of place, contrary passion, witty inventions, discommend the former, bring in another, [Subs. 2.]
  • By good counsel, persuasion, from future miseries, inconveniences, &c. [S. 3.]
  • By philters, magical, and poetical cures, [Subs. 4.]
  • To let them have their desire disputed pro and con. Impediments removed, reasons for it. [Subs. 5.]

• His name, definition, extent, power, tyranny, [Memb. 1.]
• Division, Equivocations, kinds, [Subs. 1.]
  • Improper
    • To many beasts; as swans, cocks, bulls.
    • To kings and princes, of their subjects, successors.
    • To friends, parents, tutors over their children, or otherwise.
  • or Proper
    • Before marriage, corrivals, &c.
    • After, as in this place our present subject.
• Causes, [Subs. 2.]
  • In the parties themselves,
    • Idleness, impotency in one party, melancholy, long absence.
    • They have been naught themselves. Hard usage, unkindness, wantonness, inequality of years, persons, fortunes, &c.
  • or from others.
    • Outward enticements and provocations of others.
• Symptoms, [Memb. 2.]
  • Fear, sorrow, suspicion, anguish of mind, strange actions, gestures, looks, speeches, locking up, outrages, severe laws, prodigious trials, &c.
• Prognostics, [Memb. 3.]
  • Despair, madness, to make away themselves, and others.
• Cures, [Memb. 4.]
  • By avoiding occasions, always busy, never to be idle.
  • By good counsel, advice of friends, to contemn or dissemble it. [Subs. 1.]
  • By prevention before marriage. Plato's communion.
  • To marry such as are equal in years, birth, fortunes, beauty, of like conditions, &c.
  • Of a good family, good education. To use them well. [[Subs. 2.]]

• In excess of such as do that which is not required. [Memb. 1.]
  • A proof that there is such a species of melancholy, name, object God, what his beauty is, how it allureth, part and parties affected, superstitious, idolaters, prophets, heretics, &c. [Subs. 1.]
  • Causes, [Subs. 2.]
    • From others
      • The devil's allurements, false miracles, priests for their gain. Politicians to keep men in obedience, bad instructors, blind guides.
    • or from themselves.
      • Simplicity, fear, ignorance, solitariness, melancholy, curiosity, pride, vainglory, decayed image of God.
  • Symptoms, [Subs. 3.]
    • General
      • Zeal without knowledge, obstinacy, superstition, strange devotion, stupidity, confidence, stiff defence of their tenets, mutual love and hate of other sects, belief of incredibilities, impossibilities.
    • or Particular.
      • Of heretics, pride, contumacy, contempt of others, wilfulness, vainglory, singularity, prodigious paradoxes.
      • In superstitious blind zeal, obedience, strange works, fasting, sacrifices, oblations, prayers, vows, pseudomartyrdom, mad and ridiculous customs, ceremonies, observations.
      • In pseudoprophets, visions, revelations, dreams, prophecies, new doctrines, &c., of Jews, Gentiles, Mahometans, &c.
  • Prognostics, [Subs. 4.]
    • New doctrines, paradoxes, blasphemies, madness, stupidity, despair, damnation.
  • Cures, [Subs. 5.]
    • By physic, if need be, conference, good counsel, persuasion, compulsion, correction, punishment. Quaeritur an cogi debent? Affir.
• In defect, as [Memb. 2.]
  • Secure, void of grace and fears.
    • Epicures, atheists, magicians, hypocrites, such as have cauterised consciences, or else are in a reprobate sense, worldly-secure, some philosophers, impenitent sinners, [Subs. 1.]
  • or Distrustful, or too timorous, as desperate. In despair consider,
    • Causes, [Subs. 2.]
      • The devil and his allurements, rigid preachers, that wound their consciences, melancholy, contemplation, solitariness.
      • How melancholy and despair differ. Distrust, weakness of faith. Guilty conscience for offence committed, misunderstanding, &c.
    • Symptoms, [Subs. 3.]
      • Fear, sorrow, anguish of mind, extreme tortures and horror of conscience, fearful dreams, conceits, visions, &c.
    • Prognostics; Blasphemy, violent death, [Subs. 4.]
    • Cures, [Subs. 5.]
      • Physic, as occasion serves, conference, not to be idle or alone. Good counsel, good company, all comforts and contents, &c. [[Subs. 6.]]