The Anatomy of Melancholy

Name: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Author: Robert Burton

1651 English with a close modern English rendering

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The Anatomy of MelancholySubsection 6. the Sensitive Soul.

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Modern English Page · Branch 156 of 1495

Subsection 6. the Sensitive Soul.

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1651 English

22–23

Hearing, a most excellent outward sense, by which we learne and get knowledge. His object is sound, or that which is heard; the Medium, ayre; Organ the ear. To the sound, which is a collision of the ayre, three things are required: a body to strike, as the hand of a musician; the body strucken, which must be solid and able to resist, as a bell, lute-string; not wooll, or spunge; the Medium, the ayre: which is Inward, or Outward;

the outward being struck or collided by a solid body, still strikes the next ayre, untill it come to that inward natural ayre, which as an exquisite organ is contained in a little skin formed like a drum head, and struck upon by certaine small instruments like drum stickes, conveyes the sound by a pair of Nerves, appropriated to that use, to the common sense, as to a judge of sounds. There is great variety and much delight in them; for the knowledge of which, consult with Boethius, and other Musicians.

Smelling, is an outward sense which apprehends by the Nostrils drawing in aire; And of all the rest it is the weakest sense in men. The Organ is the nose, or two small hollow pieces of flesh a little above it: The Medium the ayre to men as water to fish: The object, Smell, arising from a mixt body resolved, which whether it be a quality, fume, vapour, or exhalation, I will not now dispute, or of their differences, and how they are caused.

This sense is an Organ of health, as Sight and Hearing, saith Agellius, are of discipline; and that by avoiding bad smels, as by choosing good, which do as much alter and affect the body many times, as Diet it self.

Taste, a necessary sense, which perceives all savours by the Tongue and Palat, and that by meanes of a thin spittle, or watery juice. His Organ is the Tongue with his tasting nerves; the Medium, a watery juice; the object Taste, or savor, which is a quality in the juice, arising from the mixture of things tasted. Some make eight species or kindes of savor, bitter, sweet, sharp, salt, &c. all which sick men (as in an ague) cannot discerne, by reason of their organs misaffected.

Touch, the last of the senses, and most ignoble, yet of as great necessity as the other, and of as much pleasure. This sense is exquisite in men, and by his Nerves dispersed all over the body, perceives any tactile quality. His Organ, the Nerves; his object those first qualities, hot, dry, moist, cold; and those that follow them, hard, soft, thick, thin, &c. Many delightsome questions are moved by Philosophers about these five senses; their Organs, Objects, Mediums, which for brevity I omit.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 6. the Sensitive Soul.

p. 156

Hearing is an excellent external sense through which we learn and gain knowledge. Its object is sound, or what is heard; its medium, air; its organ, the ear. Sound, which is a collision of air, requires three things: a body to strike, such as a musician’s hand; a body to be struck, which must be solid and offer resistance, such as a bell or lute string, not wool or sponge; and the medium, air, which is internal or external.

External air, struck or driven together by a solid body, strikes the air next to it in succession until it reaches the natural air within. This internal air is contained, as a finely sensitive instrument, in a small membrane shaped like a drumhead. Struck by certain little instruments like drumsticks, it conveys sound through a pair of nerves assigned to that purpose to the common sense, the judge of sounds. Sounds have great variety and offer much delight; for knowledge of them, consult Boethius and other writers on music.

Smell is an external sense that perceives through the nostrils drawing in air. Of all the senses it is the weakest in human beings. Its organ is the nose, or two small hollow pieces of flesh a little above it; its medium is air for humans, as water is for fish. Its object is odour, arising from a compound body as it breaks down. Whether this is a quality, fume, vapour or exhalation, and how these differ or are produced, I will not now discuss.

This sense is an instrument of health, as sight and hearing, says Aulus Gellius, are instruments of learning. It serves health by avoiding bad smells and choosing good ones, which often alter and affect the body as much as diet itself.

Taste is a necessary sense that perceives all flavours through the tongue and palate, by means of thin saliva or a watery fluid. Its organ is the tongue with its nerves of taste; its medium, a watery fluid; its object, taste or flavour, a quality in the fluid arising from the mixture of things tasted. Some distinguish eight kinds of flavour: bitter, sweet, sharp, salty, and so on. Sick people, as in a fever, cannot distinguish all these because their organs are impaired.

Touch is the last and least noble of the senses, yet as necessary and pleasurable as the other. This sense is finely developed in humans and perceives every tangible quality through its nerves, distributed throughout the body. Its organ is the nerves; its objects are the primary qualities—hot, dry, moist and cold—and the qualities that follow from them, such as hard, soft, thick and thin. Philosophers raise many delightful questions about these five senses, their organs, objects and media, which I omit for brevity.

1695.The drumhead and drumstick analogy belongs to Burton’s inherited account of hearing; it has not been replaced with a modern description. Compare Aristotle, On the Soul 2.8, on external air moving the air within the ear. Boethius is invoked as an authority on musical theory, rather than merely a performer.

1697.A “mixt body” is matter composed of different constituents; “resolved” means broken down or separated. Burton deliberately leaves open the nature of the emanation that produces smell. The two pieces of flesh are retained without imposing a precise present-day anatomical identification.

1699.“Discipline” means instruction or learning. Burton cites Attic Nights 19.2, a discussion distinguishing pleasures of the senses and those shared with beasts. His particular formulation about smell as an instrument of health is absent from that chapter; the immediate source remains to be identified.

1701.An “ague” is a fever, often an intermittent fever. Burton announces eight flavours but supplies only four examples and “&c.”; the other four have not been added. “Sharp” retains a broader historical range than a single modern taste category.

1703.The primary qualities—hot, cold, moist and dry—belong to the elemental and humoral account underlying this anatomy. “Ignoble” denotes a low rank in the hierarchy of senses; it does not mean touch is unnecessary. The ranking and the claim about necessity are Burton’s.

About This Reading Edition

Robert Burton’s Anatomy ranges across medicine, philosophy, poetry, religion, and everyday life in its inquiry into melancholy. This complete parallel edition pairs the 1651 English text with a close modern English rendering, preserving the three Partitions, Democritus Junior’s address to the reader, verse, and the historical index.

Historical Text and Translation

The historical text follows the sixth edition, printed at Oxford for Henry Cripps in 1651, using the McGill University Library copy. The supplied edition documents missing printed pages 98–99 supplied from another 1651 copy at the Bavarian State Library. Historical folio labels and their irregularities remain visible; web reader numbers identify reflowed passages and do not claim to reproduce PDF pagination.

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Diotimos Editions prepared the close modern English rendering and editorial matter. All 8,755 original and modern passage pairs remain aligned, with verse breaks, italics, continuations, and linked annotations preserved. Burton’s 6,781 historical notes retain their attribution; 6,895 editorial notes remain distinct. The introduction, Note on the Text, contextual lexicon, indexes, source documentation, and bibliography are included. The engraved frontispiece remains available in the original downloads.

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