The Anatomy of Melancholy

The places. Cultivation figures among the country’s advantages. (p. 52–53; DJR-014-09.) The Arabian wilderness is declared incapable of cultivation. (p. 250; DJR-074-16.)

In this edition. “well manured” → “a well-cultivated country” (DJR-014-09); “by no art can be manured” → “no skill can cultivate” (DJR-074-16). Cultivate preserves the broad agricultural meaning. Human skill and natural conditions remain distinct contributors to the descriptions.

See also. Commonwealth; Estate.

Maternal impressions

Source forms: strange imagination; depraved phantasie

The word. Maternal impressions is an explanatory heading for the historical belief that a pregnant woman’s images, fears or cravings could mark or shape her child. Strange imagination and depraved phantasie name the mental activity credited with this supposed power.

In Burton. Burton describes a mother’s distress as disturbing her child’s bodily balance and her imagination as leaving a physical mark. The later examples extend the claim to resemblance, birthmarks and unusual births. These passages assign bodily effects to images held in the mind.

The places. The mother’s fears and cravings are said to affect her infant. (p. 64; DJR-033-16.) A pictured form is said to be stamped upon the child. (p. 94; DJR-039-17.)

In this edition. “strange imagination” → “extraordinary imagination” (DJR-033-16); “depraved phantasie” → “disordered imagination” (DJR-039-17). Extraordinary and disordered retain the distinctions in Burton’s description. They explain the historical theory without making the mother responsible for a child’s physical features.

See also. Imagination; Seed; Ex traduce.

Matrix and mother

Source forms: Matrix; the mother; mother; fits of the mother; uteri labiorum

The word. Matrix and mother can mean the womb. The mother also names a historical disorder attributed to that organ; fits of the mother are attacks explained through the same uterine pathology. Anatomical expressions must still be interpreted locally.

In Burton. The womb appears in the list of parts capable of causing melancholy. The disorder called the mother supplies an analogy for men’s illness and a comparison for symptoms that resemble uterine suffocation. Jealousy is also said to provoke such fits. In a separate discussion of supposed signs of virginity, the Latin lips of the womb refers to the genital opening rather than precisely to the uterus.

The places. Matrix or womb occurs in the anatomical catalogue. (p. 174; DJR-057-02.) The mother supplies a comparison for the frequency of men’s illness. (p. 177; DJR-057-41.) The symptoms resemble suffocation of the womb. (p. 202–203; DJR-063-01.) Jealousy is said to cause fits of the mother. (p. 614; DJR-148-13.) The historical phrase lips of the womb occurs in a discussion of virginity. (p. 612; DJR-147-39.)

In this edition. “Matrix or Wombe” → “matrix or womb” (DJR-057-02); “the mother” → “the disorder called “the mother”” (DJR-057-41); “fits of the mother” → “fits of the womb” (DJR-063-01); “fits of the Mother” → “fits of the mother” (DJR-148-13); “uteri labiorum” → “lips of the womb” (DJR-147-39). The modern text sometimes explains womb directly and sometimes retains the named disorder with a note. The Latin anatomical expression remains qualified by its context.

See also. Hypochondria; Green sickness.

Matter

Source forms: materia prima; ens; non Ens

The word. Materia prima is prime or first matter, the underlying matter considered apart from particular forms. Ens means being; non ens means a nonentity or something without existence. These terms concern substance and existence, but are not interchangeable.