In Burton. Burton relates Adam’s sin to the physical agents of illness by distinguishing an impelling cause from its instruments. His account of movement distinguishes efficient cause from end, the desired or avoided object. The medical headings then gather internal, antecedent and immediate causes. These are overlapping explanatory schemes, and Burton’s compressed grouping should not be mistaken for a single consistently separated classification.

The places. Adam’s sin is called the impelling cause of human misery. (p. 2; DJR-021-12.) Created things act as instruments of infirmity. (p. 3–4; DJR-021-27.) Efficient cause is distinguished from the end of movement. (p. 25; DJR-025-31.) External and internal causes are classified. (p. 65; DJR-033-28.) A heading groups causes acting on the mind through the body. (p. 172; DJR-056-39.)

In this edition. “impulsive cause” → “impelling cause” (DJR-021-12); “instrumental causes” → “instrumental causes” (DJR-021-27); “Efficient cause” → “efficient cause” (DJR-025-31); “Continent causes” → “containing causes” (DJR-033-28); “Continent, inward, antecedent, next causes” → “Immediate, internal, antecedent and proximate causes” (DJR-056-39). The renderings preserve the distinctions locally. Containing and immediate express the sustaining force of continent; proximate expresses the nearness meant by next.

See also. Consent and essence; Accident; Contingence; Adventitious; Artificial.

Cautery

Source forms: cautery; seared; cauterized consciences

The word. Cautery involves searing bodily tissue. In the selected medical passage, a cautery is the resulting wound maintained as a draining outlet. A cauterized conscience figuratively lacks sensitivity.

In Burton. A reported case attributes madness to the healing of a draining wound and recovery to its reopening. Elsewhere the willingness to endure cauterization illustrates how strongly most people desire life. In the satire on wealthy patrons, seared consciences resist rebuke. The physical action thus supplies both a treatment term and a moral image.

The places. Closure of a cautery wound is given as a cause of illness. (p. 176; DJR-057-26.) Cauterization appears among sufferings endured for health. (p. 215; DJR-066-01.) Seared consciences disregard denunciation. (p. 137; DJR-048-22.)

In this edition. “a cautery” → “a cautery wound” (DJR-057-26); “seared” → “cauterized” (DJR-066-01); “cauterized consciences” → “consciences are seared” (DJR-048-22). Adding wound clarifies the object that dries up; seared preserves the bodily metaphor in the moral passage.

See also. Chirurgery.

Censure

Source forms: censured; censure; censures

The word. Censure can mean judgment or assessment, as well as adverse criticism. Its force depends on who judges and on the surrounding action.

In Burton. The synopsis asks how someone who harms himself should be judged. Addressing patrons, Burton submits himself to their censure and service: their judgment is being acknowledged, not necessarily their condemnation. A scholar who scorns all censures, by contrast, dismisses criticism. The word moves from an act of assessment to the opinions that an author resents.

The places. The synopsis poses a question about judgment. (p. 100; DJR-020-63.) Burton submits to the judgment of worthy patrons. (p. 141; DJR-049-19.) A scholar dismisses criticism. (p. 195; DJR-061-07.)

In this edition. “censured” → “judge” (DJR-020-63); “censure” → “judgement” (DJR-049-19); “censures” → “criticism” (DJR-061-07). Judge and judgement preserve the broader sense; criticism fits the scholar’s defensive attitude.

See also. Fact; Explode; Apologize.

Cento

Source forms: Cento

The word. A cento is a patchwork composition assembled from other writings. Here the term names Burton’s own gathered work.

In Burton. The author compares his collection to cloth woven from different fleeces and to a bee’s gathering from flowers. He then claims that the resulting cento wrongs no author because each receives his due. The term makes combination itself a form of composition, while the adjoining claim raises the question of acknowledgment.

The places. Burton describes his method through weaving and gathering. (p. 8; DJR-005-01.)

In this edition. “this Cento” → “this patchwork” (DJR-005-01). Patchwork retains the material image and makes the literary term intelligible. It does not imply that the parts lack an organizing purpose.

See also. Humane learning; Science; Schoolmen; Parrhesia; Fustian and bombast.

Century

Source forms: cent.

The word. Century can mean a collection of one hundred items. The abbreviation cent. in a citation identifies such a division rather than a period of one hundred years.

In Burton. Among authorities on transformation and illness, Burton cites Mizaldus by cent. 5. 77. The numerals identify the fifth collection and item 77. This is a bibliographical locator, and interpreting century chronologically would obscure the reference.

The places. Mizaldus is cited by collection and item. (p. 9–10; DJR-022-28.)

In this edition. “Mizaldus cent. 5. 77.” → “Mizaldus, fifth century, item 77” (DJR-022-28). The modern text retains century as the collection’s name and makes item explicit. The article supplies the otherwise unfamiliar numerical sense.

See also. Neoterics; Prognostics.

Cerebral chambers

Source forms: middle cell of the Brain

The word. Cerebral chambers is an editorial heading for the cavities, cells or ventricles to which Burton’s historical physiology assigns mental faculties.

In Burton. The account of the brain places imagination and thought in a middle ventricle, and memory in a fourth chamber that receives and transmits animal spirits. The later definition of imagination calls its organ the middle cell. Reading the two passages together shows that cell names an internal chamber, rather than a microscopic unit of tissue.

The places. Imagination, thought and memory are assigned to ventricles. (p. 19; DJR-024-19.) The middle cell is named as imagination’s organ. (p. 23; DJR-025-18.)

In this edition. “Middle ventricle” → “middle ventricle” (DJR-024-19); “fourth Creek” → “fourth chamber” (DJR-024-19); “middle cell of the Brain” → “brain’s middle chamber” (DJR-025-18). Chamber makes the older spatial vocabulary clear while retaining ventricle where Burton uses that term.

See also. Imagination.

Characters

Source forms: characters; character

The word. Characters may be inscribed signs or magical symbols. A character can also be a distinguishing mark by which a condition is recognized.

In Burton. Signs stamped on metals appear among the alleged means of witchcraft, and written symbols among disputed cures. When Burton asks whether such treatments are lawful, characters again belong to the list of magical devices. In the account of symptoms, however, sorrow is the other character of melancholy: a distinguishing feature rather than an inscription.

The places. Stamped signs appear among the alleged instruments of magic. (p. 56–57; DJR-031-54.) Written symbols enter the discussion of contested cures. (p. 95–96; DJR-039-27.) Inscribed signs are included in the question about lawful treatment. (p. 216; DJR-067-36.) Sorrow is called a characteristic mark. (p. 183; DJR-059-01.)

In this edition. “characters stamped” → “signs stamped” (DJR-031-54); “Characters” → “written symbols” (DJR-039-27); “Characters” → “inscribed signs” (DJR-067-36); “Character” → “distinguishing mark” (DJR-059-01). The equivalents distinguish visible inscriptions from a diagnostic feature; neither passage concerns a fictional person or personality.

See also. Fascination.

Charity

Source forms: charity