The Anatomy of Melancholy

In Burton. The anonymous dead expose the brevity and unequal distribution of military fame. In the attack on corrupt appointments, the related Latin term becomes an insult directed at those obstructing the Church and universities. The social contempt of the second passage is stronger than the descriptive military equivalent in the first.

The places. Common soldiers receive far less recognition than the general. (p. 32–33; DJR-010-05.) Proletariique joins Harpies in the attack on corrupt appointments. (p. 144 [sequence]; DJR-050-09.)

In this edition. “proletaries” → “common soldiers” (DJR-010-05); “proletariique” → “and low fellows” (DJR-050-09). The renderings follow the local distinction between soldiers drawn from ordinary people and a polemical label. Neither passage uses the later political category proletariat.

See also. Parasite.

Proper

Source forms: proper; propernes of person

The word. Proper can mean handsome or well formed. Properness of person describes physical appearance, rather than correctness of behaviour or ownership.

In Burton. A handsome man can be recognized readily, whereas learning takes time to acquire and recognize. Loyola’s handsome appearance then stands among the worldly advantages surpassed by the honour gained after his injury. Both examples distinguish bodily attractions from another kind of achievement.

The places. A proper man is a handsome man in the comparison with learning. (p. 131; DJR-047-08.) Properness of person names Loyola’s handsome appearance. (p. 313; DJR-088-01.)

In this edition. “a proper man” → “a handsome man” (DJR-047-08); “propernes of person” → “handsome appearance” (DJR-088-01). Handsome prevents the moral or possessive senses of proper from obscuring these physical descriptions.

See also. Honest.

Purging

Source forms: vomit; vomits; purging upwards

The word. Purging means evacuating bodily matter in the historical treatment of illness. It can act upwards by vomiting or downwards through the bowels. A vomit may name the emetic substance administered, rather than the material expelled.

In Burton. An emetic plays a part in the reported serpent cure, alongside a concealed object intended to change the patient’s belief. The pharmacological survey classifies melancholy-purging medicines by composition, strength and direction of evacuation. Laurel and asarabacca are called common vomits within that scheme.

The places. A vomit names the administered emetic in the serpent anecdote. (p. 298; DJR-084-34.) Two common vomits means two familiar emetics. (p. 376; DJR-101-34.) Purging upwards and downwards distinguishes the directions of evacuation. (p. 376; DJR-101-32.)

In this edition. “a vomit” → “an emetic” (DJR-084-34); “two common vomits” → “two common emetics” (DJR-101-34); “purging upwards or downward” → “upwards or downwards” (DJR-101-32). Emetic clarifies the medicinal noun. The modern description retains the directions of purging and explains them in the accompanying note, without reconciling historical doses or imposing a botanical identity.

See also. Alteratives; Clister; Flux and lask; Costiveness; Apophlegmatisms; Helleborism.

Quean and slut

Source forms: slut; Quean; queans

The word. Slut can mean a dirty or slovenly woman. Quean is an abusive term for a sexually disreputable woman and, in some contexts, a prostitute. These insults do not carry identical accusations.

In Burton. The marriage catalogues separate slovenliness from the accusation carried by harlot or wantonness. Heloise’s reported preference for Abelard turns the contrast between quean and queen into a contrast of personal attachment and rank. The later discussion attributes some women’s prostitution or retaliation to husbands’ deprivation and ill-treatment.