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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 4. the Species or Kinds of Melancholy

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Subsection 4. the Species or Kinds of Melancholy

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1651 English

SUBSEC. 4. Of the species or kindes of Melancholy.

When the matter is divers and confused, how should it otherwise be, but that the species should be divers and confused? Many new and old writers have spoken confusedly of it, confounding Melancholy and Madness, as Heurnius, Guianerius, Gordonius, Salustius, Salvianus, Iason Pratensis, Savanarola, that will have Madness no other then Melancholy in extent, differing (as I have said) in degrees.

Some make two distinct species, as Ruffus Ephesius and old writer, Constantinus Africanus, Areteus, Aurelianus, Paulus Ægineta: others acknowledge a multitude of kinds, and leave them indefinite, as Ætius in his Tetrabiblos, Avicenna lib. 3. Fen. 1. Tract. 4. cap. 18. Arculanus cap. 16. in 9. Rasis. Montanus med. part. 1.

If naturall Melancholy be adust, it maketh one kinde; if blood, another; if choler, a third, differing from the first; and so many severall opinions there are about the kindes, as there be men themselves. Hercules de Saxonia sets down two kinds, materiall and immateriall; one from spirits alone, the other from humors and spirits.

Savonarola Rub. 11. Tract. 6. cap. 1. de ægritud. capitis, will have the kindes to be infinite; one from the myrach, called myrachialis of the Arabians; another stomachalis, from the stomack; another from the liver, heart, wombe, hemrods; one beginning, another consummate.

Melancthon seconds him, as the humor is diversly adust and mixt, so are the species divers: but what these men speak of species, I think ought to be understood of symptomes, and so doth Arculanus interpret himself: infinite species, id est, symptomes; and in that sense, as Io. Gorrheus acknowledgeth in his medicinal definitions, the species are infinite, but they may be reduced to three kindes, by reason of their seat, Head, Body, and Hypocondries.

This threefold division is approved by Hippocrates in his book of Melancholy, (if it be his, which some suspect) by Galen lib. 3. de loc. affectis cap. 6. by Alexander lib. 1. cap. 16. Rasis lib. 1. Continent. Tract. 9. lib. 1. cap. 16. Avicenna, and most of our new writers. Th. Erastus makes two kindes; one perpetual, which is Head melancholy; the other interrupt, which comes and goes by fits, which he subdivides into the other two kindes, so that all comes to the same pass.

Some again make four or five kindes with Rodericus à Castro de morbis mulier. lib. 2. cap. 3. and Lod. Mercatus, who in his second book de mulier. affect. cap. 4. will have that melancholy of Nuns, Widowes, and more ancient maids, to be a peculiar species of Melancholy differing from the rest: some will reduce Enthusiasts, extaticall and dæmoniacall persons to this rank, adding Love melancholy to the first, and Lycanthropia.

The most received division is into three kindes. The first proceeds from the sole fault of the Brain, and is called Head melancholy: the second sympathetically proceeds from the whole body, when the whole temperature is Melancholy: The third ariseth from the Bowels, Liver, Spleen, or Membrane, called Mesenterium named Hypocondriacal, or windy Melancholy, which Laurentius subdivides into three parts, from those three Members, Hepatick, Splenatick, Meseraick.

1875.BurtonMargin z: “Non est Mania, nisi extensa melancholia.” Mania is nothing but melancholy extended.

1876.BurtonMargin a: “Cap. 6. lib. 1.” Chapter 6, book 1.

1877.BurtonMargin b: “2. Ser. 2. cap. 9 Morbus hic est omnifarius.” Book 2, discourse 2, chapter 9: this disease takes every form.

1878.BurtonMargin c: “Species indefinitæ sunt.” The species are indefinite.

1880.BurtonMargin d: “Si aduratur naturalis melancholia, alia fit species, si sanguis alia, si flava bilis alia, diversa à primis: maxima est inter has differentia, & tot Doctorum sententiæ, quot ipsi numero sunt.” If natural black bile is burnt, it makes one species; if blood, another; if yellow bile, another different from the first. The difference between them is very great, and there are as many opinions as there are doctors.

1881.BurtonStarred margin: “Tract. de mel. cap. 7.” Treatise on Melancholy, chapter 7.

1882.BurtonMargin e: “Quædam incipiens quædam consummata.” Some beginning, some fully developed.

1883.BurtonMargin f: “Cap. de humor. lib. de anima. variè aduritur & miscetur ipsa melancholia, unde variæ amentium species.” On the Soul, chapter on humours: melancholy itself is burnt and mixed in various ways, hence the different kinds of mental derangement.

1884.BurtonMargin g: “Cap. 16. in 9. Rasis.” Chapter 16, on book 9 of Rhazes.

1887.BurtonMargin h: “Laurentius cap. 4. de mel.” Laurentius, On Melancholy, chapter 4.

1889.BurtonMargin i: “Cap. 13.” Chapter 13.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 4. the Species or Kinds of Melancholy

p. 173

Subsection 4. The Species or Kinds of Melancholy

When the material is varied and confused, how could the species be anything but varied and confused too? Many ancient and recent writers have discussed it confusedly, mixing up melancholy and madness. Heurnius, Guianerius, Gordonius, Salustius, Salvianus, Jason Pratensis and Savonarola maintain that madness is simply melancholy carried further, differing, as I have said, only in degree.

Some make them two distinct species, including Rufus of Ephesus, an ancient writer, Constantine the African, Aretaeus, Aurelianus and Paul of Aegina. Others acknowledge a multitude of kinds and leave their number undefined: Aetius in his Tetrabiblos; Avicenna in book 3, fen 1, treatise 4, chapter 18; Arculanus in chapter 16 of his commentary on book 9 of Rhazes; and Montanus, Medicine, part 1.

If natural black bile is burnt, it produces one kind; if blood is burnt, another; if choler, a third, different from the first. There are as many opinions about the kinds as there are men to hold them. Hercules de Saxonia sets out two kinds, material and immaterial: one from spirits alone, the other from humours and spirits.

Savonarola, rubric 11, treatise 6, chapter 1, On Diseases of the Head, holds that the kinds are infinite: one from the myrach, called myrachial by the Arab physicians; another, gastric, from the stomach; others from the liver, heart, womb or haemorrhoids; one beginning, another fully developed.

Melanchthon supports him: as the humour is burnt and mixed in different ways, so the species differ. But what these writers say about species should, I think, be understood as referring to symptoms. Arculanus interprets his own words that way: infinite species, that is, symptoms. In that sense, as Johannes Gorrheus acknowledges in his Medical Definitions, the species are infinite. Yet according to their location they may be reduced to three kinds: head, body and hypochondria.

This threefold division is approved by Hippocrates in his book on melancholy, if it is his, which some doubt; by Galen in On the Affected Parts, book 3, chapter 6; by Alexander in book 1, chapter 16; by Rhazes in the Continens, book 1, treatise 9, book 1, chapter 16; by Avicenna; and by most of our recent writers. Thomas Erastus makes two kinds: one continuous, which is head melancholy, and the other intermittent, coming and going in attacks. He subdivides the latter into the other two kinds, so that it all amounts to the same thing.

Others make four or five kinds, with Rodericus a Castro in On the Diseases of Women, book 2, chapter 3, and Ludovicus Mercatus, who in his second book On the Disorders of Women, chapter 4, considers the melancholy of nuns, widows and older unmarried women a distinct species. Some place those who claim divine inspiration, those in ecstatic trances and those possessed by demons in this category, adding love melancholy and lycanthropy to the first kind.

The most widely accepted division is into three kinds. The first arises solely from a disorder of the brain and is called head melancholy. The second arises through the influence of the whole body, when the entire temperament is melancholic. The third arises from the abdominal organs—the liver, spleen or membrane called the mesentery—and is named hypochondriacal or windy melancholy. Laurentius subdivides it according to those three organs into hepatic, splenic and mesenteric melancholy.

1879.The source reads “and old writer” after Rufus of Ephesus; the modern column reads “an ancient writer.” Fen is a subdivision in the Latin Avicennian tradition. “Species” means a medically distinguished kind, and need not correspond to a present-day disease category.

1885.Burton proposes that some authors’ supposedly innumerable species are really differences of symptoms. Hypochondries are the upper abdominal regions beneath the ribs. The name here describes an anatomical seat, rather than the modern sense of excessive worry about illness.

1886.The Rhazes citation repeats “lib. 1.” and shifts between treatise and chapter numbers. Both sequences are preserved pending collation. “Interrupt” means intermittent; the episodes are contrasted with a continuous condition.

1888.“Enthusiasts” means people claiming divine inspiration, not simply keen or eager people. “Extaticall” refers to trance or rapture; “dæmoniacall” to supposed demonic possession. Lycanthropy is the reported condition of believing oneself a wolf or behaving as one. Burton reports rival classifications without separating them into modern medical categories.

1890.The threefold scheme distinguishes a disorder originating in the brain, one affecting the brain through the body’s general temperament, and one arising from the abdominal organs. “Windy” refers to wind or vapours. Hepatic, splenic and mesenteric mean associated with the liver, spleen and mesentery respectively.

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.

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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.

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