The Anatomy of Melancholy

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

Source forms: 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.