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← ExitThe Anatomy of Melancholy

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Member 3. Subsection 1 Treatment of Hypochondriacal Melancholy

Only Montanus consil. 241. is against it; to other men (saith he) this opening of the hemrods seems to be a profitable remedy; for my part I do not approve of it, because it draws away the thinnest blood, and leaves the thickest behind.

Ætius, Vidus Vidius, Mercurialis, Fuchsius, recommend Diureticks, or such things as provoke urine, as Anniseeds, Dil, Fennel, Germander, ground Pine, sod in water, or drunk in powder; and yet P. Bayerus is against them; And so is Hollerius; All melancholy men (saith he) must avoid such things as provoke urine, because by them the subtile or thinnest is evacuated, the thicker matter remains.

Clysters are in good request. Trincavelius lib. 3. cap. 38. for a young Nobleman, esteems of them in the first place, and Hercules de Saxonia Panth. lib. 1. cap. 16. is a great approver of them. I have found (saith he) by experience, that many hypocondriacall melancholy men have been cured by the sole use of Clysters, receipts are to be had in him.

Besides those fomentations, irrigations, inunctions, odoraments, prescribed for the head, there must be the like used for the Liver, Spleen, Stomack, Hypocondries, &c. In crudity (saith Piso) ’tis good to binde the stomack hard to hinder winde, and to help concoction.

Of inward medicines I need not speak; use the same Cordials as before. In this kinde of melancholy, some prescribe Treacle in winter, especially before or after purges, or in the Spring, as Avicenna, Trincavellius Mithridate, Montaltus Piony seeds, Unicorns horn; os de corde cervi, &c.

Amongst Topicks or outward medicines, none are more pretious then Baths, but of them I have spoken. Fomentations to the Hypocondries are very good, of wine and water, in which are sod Southernwood, Melilot, Epithyme, Mugwort, Sena, Polypody, as also Cerots, Plaisters, Liniments, Oyntments for the Spleen, Liver, and Hypocondries, of which look for examples in Laurentius, Iobertus, lib. 3. c. 1. pra. med. Montanus consil. 231. Montaltus cap. 33. Hercules de Saxoniâ, Faventinus.

And so of Epithemes, digestive powders, bags, oils, Octavius Horatianus lib. 2. c. 5. prescribes calastick Cataplasms, or dry purging medicines: Piso Dropaces of pitch, and oil of Rue, applied at certain times to the stomack, to the metaphrene, or part of the back which is over against the heart, Ætius synapisms.

Montaltus cap. 35. would have the thighs to be cauterised, Mercurialis prescribes beneath the knees; Lælius Ægubinus cons. 77. for an Hypocondriacall Dutchman, will have the cautery made in the right thigh, and so Montanus consil. 55. The same Montanus consil. 34. approves of issues in the arms or hinder part of the head. Bernardus Paternus in Hildesheim spicel. 2. would have issues made in both the thighs: Lod. Mercatus prescribes them neer the Spleen, aut prope ventriculi regimen, or in either of the thighs.

Ligatures, Frictions, and Cupping-glasses above or about the belly, without scarification, which Felix Platerus so much approves, may be used as before.

8076.BurtonPrinted page 400, o, continuing at foot: “Aliis apertio hæc in hoc morbo videtur utilissima; mihi non admodum probatur, quia sanguinem tenuem attrahit & crassum relinquit.” “To others this opening seems extremely useful in this disease; I do not greatly approve of it, because it draws off the thin blood and leaves the thick.”

8077.BurtonPrinted page 400, p, at foot: “Lib. 2. cap. 13. omnes melancholici debent omittere urinam provocantia, quoniam per ea educitur subtile, & remanet crassum.” “Book 2, chapter 13. All melancholic people must avoid substances that promote urination, since they remove the fine material and the thick remains.”

8079.BurtonPrinted page 400, q, at foot: “Ego experientia probavi, multos Hypocondriacos solo usu Clysterum fuisse sanatos.” “I have found by experience that many people with hypochondriacal illness have been cured by enemas alone.”

8081.BurtonPrinted page 401, r: “In cruditate optimum, ventriculum arctius alligari.” “For imperfect digestion it is best to bind the stomach more tightly.”

8083.BurtonPrinted page 401, s, without a matching body marker: “ʒ j Theriacæ, Vere præsertim & æstate.” “One dram of theriac, especially in spring and summer.” Placed with the related theriac passage; the body says winter and spring.

8084.BurtonPrinted page 401, t: “Cons. 12. l. 1.” Consultation 12, book 1.

8085.BurtonPrinted page 401, u: “Cap. 33.” Chapter 33.

8087.BurtonPrinted page 401, x: “Trincavellius consil. 15. cerotum pro sene melancholico ad jecur optimum.” “Trincavelli, consultation 15: an excellent wax ointment for the liver, for an old man with melancholy.”

8088.BurtonPrinted page 401, y: “Emplastra pro splene. Fernel. consil. 45.” “Plasters for the spleen. Fernel, consultation 45.”

8090.BurtonPrinted page 401, z: “Dropax è pice navali, & oleo rutaceo affigatur ventriculo, & toti metaphreni.” “A plaster of ship’s pitch and oil of rue is to be fastened to the stomach and the whole region of the back opposite the heart.”

8092.BurtonPrinted page 401, a: “Cauteria cruribus inusta.” “Cauteries burned into the legs.”

8093.BurtonPrinted page 401, b: “Fontanellæ sint in utroq; crure.” “Let issues be made in each leg.”

8094.BurtonPrinted page 401, c, with an asterisk in the body: “Lib. 1. c. 17.” Book 1, chapter 17. The body and marginal markers differ; the reference accompanies Mercatus.

8096.BurtonPrinted page 401, dagger: “De mentis alienat. c. 3. flatus egregie discutiunt materiamq; evocant.” “On Mental Alienation, chapter 3: they admirably disperse wind and draw out the material.”