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Robert Burton

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 3 Habit in Diet, Pleasure, Appetite and Necessity How They Cause Or…

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1651 English Page · Branch 223 of 1495

Subsection 3 Habit in Diet, Pleasure, Appetite and Necessity How They Cause Or…

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1651 English

Subsect. 3. Custom of Dyet, Delight, Appetite, Necessity, how they cause or hinder.

No rule is so general, which admits not some exception; to this therefore which hath been hitherto said, (for I shall otherwise put most men out of commons) and those inconveniences which proceed from the substance of meats, an intemperate or unseasonable use of them, custom somewhat detracts, and qualifies, according to that of Hippocrates 2. Aphorif. 50. Such things as we have been long customed to, though they be evill in their own nature; yet they are less offensive.

Otherwise it might well be objected, that it were a meer tyrannie to live after those strict rules of Physick; for custom doth alter nature it self, and to such as are used to them it makes bad meats wholsome, and unseasonable times to cause no disorder.

Cider and Perry are windy drinks, so are all fruits windy in themselves, cold most part, yet in some shires of England, Normandy in France, Guipuscoa in Spain, tis their common drink, and they are no whit offended with it. In Spain, Italy, and Africk, they live most on roots, raw hearbs, Camels milk, and it agrees well with them; which to a stranger will cause much grievance.

In Wales, lacticiniis vescuntur, as Humfrey Lluyd confesseth, a Cambro-Brittain himself, in his elegant Epistle to Abraham Ortelius, they live most on white meats: in Holland on Fish, Roots, Butter; and so at this day in Greece, as Bellonius observes, they had much rather feed on fish then flesh. With us Maxima pars victus in carne consistit, we feed on flesh most part, saith Polydor Virgil, as all Northern countries do;

and it would be very offensive to us to live after their dyet, or they to live after ours: We drink beer, they Wine; they use Oyl, we Butter: we in the North are great eaters, they most sparing in those hotter Countries: and yet they and we following our own customs, are well pleased.

An Æthiopian of old seeing an European eat bread, wondred, quomodo stercoribus vescentes viverimus, how we could eat such kinde of meats: so much differed his Country-men from ours in dyet, that as mine Author infers, si quis illorum victum apud nos æmulari vellet; if any man should so feed with us, it would be all one to nourish, as Cicuta, Aconitum, or Hellebor it self.

At this day in China the common people live in a maner altogether on roots and herbs, and to the wealthiest, Horse, Ass, Mule, Dogs, Cat-flesh is as delightsom as the rest, so Mat. Riccius the Jesuit relates, who lived many years amongst them. The Tartars eat raw meat, and most commonly hors-flesh, drink milk and blood, as the Nomades of old.

Et lac concretum cum sanguine potat equino.

2507.Burtond. “Quæ longo tempore consueta sunt, etiamsi deteriora, minus in assuetis molestare solent.” Things long accustomed to, even if worse, usually cause less trouble to those accustomed to them. The printed spacing in assuetis is retained.

2509.Burtone. “Qui medicè vivit, miserè vivit.” Whoever lives by medical rules lives miserably.

2510.Burtonf. “Consuetudo altera natura.” Habit is a second nature.

2511.Burtong. “Herefordshire, Glocestershire Worcestershire.” Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.

2512.Burtonh. “Leo Afer. l. 1. solo camelorum lacte contenti, nil præterea deliciarum ambiunt.” Leo Africanus, book 1: content with camel’s milk alone, they seek no other delicacies.

2514.Burtoni. “Flandri vinum butyro dilutum bibunt (nauseo referens) ubique butyrum inter omnia fercula & bellaria locum obtinet. Steph. præfat. Herod.” The Flemish drink wine mixed with butter—I feel sick relating it—and butter finds a place among all their dishes and sweetmeats. Stephanus, preface to Herodotus. The raised contraction in ubiq; is expanded.

2515.BurtonAsterisk. “Delectantur Græci piscibus magis quam carnibus.” The Greeks take more pleasure in fish than meat. Printed above note i, but linked by its asterisk to Belon in the body.

2516.Burtonk. “Lib. 1. hist. Ang.” History of England, book 1.

2517.Burtonl. “P. Jovius descrip. Britonum. they sit, eat and drink all day at dinner in Island, Muscovy, and those Northern parts.” Paolo Giovio, Description of the Britons. They sit eating and drinking at dinner all day in Iceland, Muscovy and those northern regions.

2518.BurtonAsterisk. “Suidas vict. Herod. nihilo cum eo melius quam si quis Cicutam, Aconitum, &c.” Suidas vict. Herod. He fares no better with it than if someone [ate] hemlock, aconite, and so forth. The compressed references and incomplete construction are retained; the supplying of “ate” follows the body.

2520.Burtonm. “Expedit. in Sinas lib. 1. c. 3. hortensium herbarum & olerum, apud Sinas quam apud nos longe frequentior usus, complures quippe de vulgo reperias nulla alia re vel tenuitatis, vel religionis causa vescentes. Equus, Mulus, Asellus, &c. æquè ferè vescuntur ac pabula omnia, Mat. Riccius, lib. 5. cap. 12.” Expedition into China, book 1, chapter 3. Garden herbs and vegetables are used much more often among the Chinese than among us: many common people eat nothing else, because of poverty or religion. Horse, mule, ass, and so forth are eaten almost like every other food. Matteo Ricci, book 5, chapter 12. The final Latin is irregular; the translation follows Burton’s accompanying sense.

2521.Burtonn. “Tartari mulis, equis vescuntur & crudis carnibus, & fruges contemnunt, dicentes, hoc jumentorum pabulum & boum, non hominum.” The Tartars eat mules, horses and raw flesh, and despise grain, saying it is fodder for beasts of burden and oxen, not people.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 3 Habit in Diet, Pleasure, Appetite and Necessity How They Cause Or…

p. 223

Subsection 3 Habit in diet, pleasure, appetite and necessity How they cause or prevent melancholy

No rule is so general that it admits no exception. Habit therefore takes something away from, and qualifies, what has been said so far—otherwise I would deprive most people of their meals—and the harms arising from the substance of foods or their excessive or ill-timed use. As Hippocrates says in aphorism 2.50, things to which we have long been accustomed are less harmful, even if they are bad in themselves.

Otherwise one might well object that living by medicine’s strict rules would be sheer tyranny. Habit changes nature itself: for people used to them, it makes bad foods wholesome and unsuitable mealtimes harmless.

Cider and perry produce wind, as all fruits do in themselves, being mostly cold; yet in some English counties, in Normandy in France, and in Guipuzcoa in Spain, these are the usual drinks and cause no harm. In Spain, Italy and Africa, people live chiefly on roots, raw vegetables and camel’s milk, which agree with them but would cause a stranger much trouble.

In Wales, “they feed on dairy produce,” as Humphrey Llwyd, himself a Welsh Briton, acknowledges in his elegant letter to Abraham Ortelius: they live chiefly on dairy foods. In Holland they live on fish, roots and butter; and in Greece today, as Belon observes, they much prefer fish to meat. With us, “the greater part of the diet consists of meat”: we feed chiefly on meat, says Polydore Vergil, as all northern countries do.

It would be very harmful for us to follow their diet, or for them to follow ours. We drink beer, they wine; they use oil, we butter. We in the north are great eaters; they are extremely sparing in those hotter countries. Yet both they and we, following our own customs, are content.

An Ethiopian in ancient times, seeing a European eat bread, wondered “how we could live by feeding on dung”—how we could eat such food. So different was his countrymen’s diet from ours that, as my source concludes, “if anyone among us wished to imitate their diet,” eating that way here would be as nourishing as hemlock, aconite or hellebore itself.

In China today the common people live almost entirely on roots and vegetables, and the wealthiest find horse, ass, mule, dog and cat meat as pleasing as other food, according to Matteo Ricci, the Jesuit who lived among them for many years. The Tartars eat raw meat, most commonly horseflesh, and drink milk and blood, as the nomads of old did.

“And he drinks curdled milk with horses’ blood.”

2508.“Commons” means allotted or communal meals, familiar in colleges and other institutions. Burton jokes that his prohibitions would leave most people with nothing to eat. Aphorisms 2.50 also allows that habits may need changing; Burton quotes only the concession to accustomed things.

2513.“Windy” means producing gas; “cold” belongs to humoral classification. Burton compresses reports from several regions into one sentence. The modern text preserves that grouping without claiming that every listed food was staple throughout each region.

2519.The Latin is sharper than Burton’s English gloss: it explicitly says dung. Both are retained in modern English. The point is the claimed force of dietary difference, with poisonous or drastic medicinal plants used as a comparison; the compressed Suidas and Herodotus reference remains to be resolved.

2522.Virgil, Georgics 3.463, in a passage on northern peoples and horse blood. Burton places the verse after his account of the Tartars and ancient nomads. It is translated as verse independently of his prose.

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.

About Diotimos Editions

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.

Rights

Burton’s historical text is in the public domain. The modern English rendering, introduction, notes, and editorial matter are © 2026 Diotimos Editions and appear with the site owner’s permission. The complete supplied PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown files remain available unchanged. The PDF and Word edition preserve the original parallel page layout.