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In this edition. “vegetals and sensibles” → “plants and creatures with senses” (DJR-012-38); “Vegetal, Sensitive, and Rational” → “vegetative, sensitive and rational” (DJR-024-24). “Vegetative” names a faculty here; it does not carry the modern colloquial suggestion of an unresponsive human state.
Animal faculties
Source forms: animal faculties; moving faculty
The word. Animal faculties are the brain-associated powers of sensation, mental activity and voluntary movement. Animal in this terminology concerns the functions of living sentient beings, including humans.
In Burton. In the account of the brain, vapours from other parts supposedly disturb the animal faculties. In the advice on governing appetite, Burton distinguishes the moving faculty from desire: appetite may seek an action while reason prevents the power of movement from carrying it out. Together the examples show faculties as powers that can be affected, commanded or exercised.
The places. Vapours are said to alter brain-associated faculties. (p. 174; DJR-057-06.) The faculty of movement can refrain from executing appetite’s demand. (p. 292; DJR-083-30.)
In this edition. “animal faculties” → “animal faculties” (DJR-057-06); “moving faculty” → “faculty of movement” (DJR-083-30). The retained technical phrase needs this explanation; “animal” should not be read as excluding human mental powers.
See also. Faculty.
Antick
Source forms: antick picture; anticks; Antick
The word. Antick describes a grotesque or fantastic figure, design or conception. The plural anticks can name such invented figures.
In Burton. A grotesque picture first illustrates the attraction of novelty to frivolous readers. In the account of imagination, poets’ and painters’ anticks demonstrate its inventive power. Later, the fantastic conceits attributed to melancholy show the same power producing distressing imagined presences. The term crosses visual art and mental imagery, with different judgments in each setting.
The places. A grotesque picture attracts the passer-by’s gaze. (p. 5; DJR-003-02.) Poets and painters produce imaginative grotesques. (p. 23–24; DJR-025-19.) Fantastic ideas become part of the reported symptoms of melancholy. (p. 187; DJR-059-32.)
In this edition. “antick picture” → “grotesque picture” (DJR-003-02); “Anticks” → “grotesques” (DJR-025-19); “Antick, phantasticall conceipts” → “grotesque, fantastic ideas” (DJR-059-32). The renderings preserve the relation between unusual forms and the imagination; the word need not mean an amusing prank.
See also. Emblem; Imagination; Fustian and bombast; Admire.
Apologize
The word. To apologize here is to defend or justify someone’s position. The word names advocacy in a controversy.
In Burton. Burton says that Rhenanus undertakes to apologize for Anthony and dismisses his opponents. He then steps back from the extensive controversy, arranging chemical physicians and Galenists on opposing sides. The movement from apologize to defend and attack within the passage makes its forensic sense explicit.
The places. Rhenanus defends Anthony in the dispute over chemical medicine. (p. 387; DJR-103-52.)
In this edition. “Apologize for Anthony” → “defend Anthony” (DJR-103-52). “Defend” preserves the direction of the argument. Rhenanus is not represented as expressing regret for Anthony’s conduct.
Apophlegmatisms
Source forms: apophlegmatisms; masticatories
The word. Apophlegmatisms are preparations intended to draw off phlegm. Masticatories are medicinal substances held and chewed in the mouth.
In Burton. Burton distinguishes medicines swallowed from those merely kept in the mouth. After gargles, he names apophlegmatisms and masticatories, divides them into gentle and strong examples, and explains their use through holding and chewing. The paired terms therefore concern both an intended effect and a manner of application.
The places. Chewed preparations are distinguished from swallowed medicines and gargles. (p. 382; DJR-102-44.)
In this edition. “Apophlegmatisms, Masticatories” → “apophlegmatisms, or masticatories” (DJR-102-44); “held and chewed in the mouth” → “held and chewed in the mouth” (DJR-102-44). The historical names remain beside Burton’s own explanation of how they were used.
See also. Purging.
Apothecaries measures
Source forms: drams; an.; ʒ; ℥; j; ß; iij
The word. Drams can mean medicinal draughts or doses without specifying a measured weight. In formal prescriptions, drachms and ounces appear through apothecaries’ signs and abbreviated quantities.
In Burton. The account of allegedly staged cures at Padua uses drams for preparations supposedly administered beforehand. A later prescription instead gives exact written quantities: an. signifies of each, ʒ a drachm, ℥ an ounce, j one, ß a half and iij three. The prose use of drams must not be turned into a precise dose merely because a related word names a unit.
The places. Ointments and drams occur in a polemical accusation about cures. (p. 225; DJR-068-36.) A prescription uses signs and abbreviations for quantities. (p. 548–549; DJR-134-46.)
In this edition. “drams” → “potions” (DJR-068-36); “an. ʒ j.” → “one drachm of each” (DJR-134-46); “ʒ ß.” → “half a drachm” (DJR-134-46); “℥ iij.” → “three ounces” (DJR-134-46). The written quantities are expanded into words but left in historical units, without conversion into modern doses.
See also. Receipt.
Appetite
The word. Appetite is a power of impulse or desire. It is broader than hunger and can mediate between an imagined object and bodily movement.
In Burton. In Burton’s explanation of sleepwalking, vapours stir imagination, imagination stirs appetite, and appetite moves the animal spirits that make the body walk. Appetite occupies a specific place in the proposed chain of causes. The sleeping person’s movement is explained through these powers rather than through a conscious decision described in ordinary terms.
The places. Appetite mediates between imagination and bodily movement in sleepwalking. (p. 93; DJR-039-11.)
In this edition. “the Phantasie the Appetite” → “the imagination stirs the appetite” (DJR-039-11). The word remains in the modern column because it names a recurring faculty; reading it as a desire for food would break the explanation.
See also. Concupiscible and irascible; Concupiscence; Passion; Pleasure.
Apprehension
Source forms: strong apprehension; apprehensions; apprehensive
The word. Apprehension can be intellectual grasp, imaginative conception, awareness, or anxious susceptibility. Apprehensive likewise ranges from perceptive or sensitive to fearful.
In Burton. The Stoic wise person is credited with strong apprehension in an argument Burton mocks; melancholy sufferers elsewhere possess excellent apprehensions despite their distress. In love, strong apprehension combines with weak judgment as powerful imagination. The consolatory and religious passages instead emphasize awareness of an intolerable situation or susceptibility to fear. Context separates strengths of understanding from vulnerabilities of feeling.
The places. Firm understanding is attributed to the Stoic wise person. (p. 75; DJR-019-02.) Melancholy can coexist with excellent powers of understanding. (p. 179–180; DJR-058-13.) Sensitivity to a distressing situation affects the response to it. (p. 292 [296]; DJR-084-16.) Powerful imagination is paired with weak judgment. (p. 450; DJR-116-42.) Apprehensive describes susceptibility to religious fear. (p. 696; DJR-164-19.)
In this edition. “strong apprehension” → “firmness of his understanding” (DJR-019-02); “excellent apprehensions” → “excellent powers of understanding” (DJR-058-13); “apprehensive” → “sensitive to what is happening” (DJR-084-16); “strong apprehension” → “powerful imagination” (DJR-116-42); “less apprehensive” → “less apprehensive” (DJR-164-19). The retained adjective in the final example has its familiar anxious sense; that sense must not be carried backward into every other occurrence.