The Anatomy of Melancholy

The word. Usury can mean lending at interest generally. It does not invariably carry the narrower sense of an exceptionally high or extortionate charge.

In Burton. Burton’s imagined commonwealth excludes biting usurers but makes a concession to human imperfection by tolerating some lending at interest. The force of the passage depends on that distinction between the rejected abuse and the admitted practice.

The places. The rejection of extortionate lenders is followed by a qualified allowance of interest. (p. 66; DJR-017-08.)

In this edition. “biting usurers” → “extortionate moneylenders” (DJR-017-08); “some kinde of usury” → “some lending at interest” (DJR-017-08). The two equivalents preserve the distinction within the paragraph. Reading both expressions as extortion would conceal the scope of Burton’s concession.

See also. Legal evidence; Commodity.

Vapours

Source forms: vapours

The word. Vapours are bodily exhalations in the historical physiology invoked here. Their presence or absence is used to explain sleep and disturbances of the mind.

In Burton. Burton links severe fasting to a lack of the vapours thought necessary for sleep, and sleeplessness to mental disorder and frightening sounds. He gives a physiological explanation to material drawn from accounts of Hilarion and Antony.

The places. Lack of vapours is offered as the reason fasting prevents sleep. (p. 656; DJR-156-09.)

In this edition. “for want of vapours he could not sleep” → “For lack of vapours he could not sleep” (DJR-156-09). Vapours is retained because it belongs to the causal model Burton is reporting. Substituting a present-day physiological agent would replace that model rather than explain it.

See also. Hypochondria; Obnubilate.

Venery

Source forms: Venus; Venery; debt

The word. Venery means sexual intercourse in these passages. Venus names the activity through the goddess of love; the marital debt is another expression for sexual relations, framed as an obligation between spouses.

In Burton. Sexual activity appears within the historical regimen of retentions and evacuations, where both excess and absence may be blamed for illness. Frequent venery is also among the reported causes in an individual case. The debt passage joins a scriptural allusion to a medical author’s claim about the quality of offspring.

The places. Venus names sexual activity in a catalogue of bodily discharges and retentions. (p. 78; DJR-036-08.) Frequent venery is one of the causes attributed to a medical case. (p. 176; DJR-057-27.) The marital debt provides the language for a claim about procreation. (p. 64; DJR-033-14.)

In this edition. “immoderate, or no use at all of Venus” → “excessive sexual activity or none at all” (DJR-036-08); “frequent use of Venery” → “frequent sexual intercourse” (DJR-057-27); “they pay their debt” → “They pay their debt” (DJR-033-14). The explicit sexual equivalents clarify the first two expressions. Debt remains as the scriptural metaphor, with its reciprocal marital context explained. The assertion about offspring remains attributed to the historical medical writer.

See also. Dowry and jointure; Continence; Satyriasis and priapism; Seed; Concupiscence; Wittal and cuckold.

Venial sin

Source forms: venially; venialiter

The word. Venial sin is a lesser sin, distinguished from mortal sin in the theological classification Burton cites. Venially and the Latin venialiter mean in that lesser degree.

In Burton. In the argument against excessive parental restrictions on marriage, Burton reports that marrying for physical beauty is not even a venial sin. The qualification strengthens the cited permission; it does not concede a minor fault.