The Anatomy of Melancholy

Name: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Author: Robert Burton

1651 English with a close modern English rendering

Explore the Lexicon

The Anatomy of MelancholySubsection 4 Retention and Evacuation as Causes, and How They Act

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Facing Pages · Branch 229 of 1495

Subsection 4 Retention and Evacuation as Causes, and How They Act

Book Mode

1651 English

For this cause belike Salust. Salvinianus, l. 2. c. 1. will admit or hear of no blood-letting at all in this Disease, except it be manifest, it proceed from blood: He was (it appears) by his own words in that place, Master of an Hospital of mad men, and found by long experience, that this kinde of evacuation, either in head, arm, or any other part, did more harm then good.

To this opinion of his, Felix Plater is quite opposite, Though some wink at, disallow, and quite contradict all Phlebotomy in Melancholy, yet by long experience I have found innumerable so saved, after they had been twenty, nay, sixty times let blood, and to live happily after it. It was an ordinary thing of old, in Galens time, to take at once from such men six pound of blood, which now we dare scarce take in ounces: sed viderint medici, great Books are written of this subject.

Purging upward and downward, in abundance of bad humors omitted, may be for the worst; so likewise as in the precedent, if overmuch, too frequent or violent, it weakneth their strength, saith Fuchsius, l. 2. sect. 2. c. 17. or if they be strong or able to endure Physick, yet it brings them to an ill habit, they make their bodies no better then Apothecaries shops, this, and such like infirmities must needs follow.

2601.Burtonr. “Non laudo eos qui in desipientia docent secandam esse venam frontis, quia spiritus debilitatur inde, & ego longa experientia observavi in proprio Xenodochio, quod desipientes ex Phlebotomia magis læduntur, & magis desipiunt, & melancholici sæpe fiunt inde pejores.” I do not approve of those who teach that the forehead vein should be opened in madness, because this weakens the spirit. Through long experience in my own hospital I have observed that mad people are harmed more by bloodletting and become more deranged, and that melancholics are often made worse by it.

2603.BurtonAsterisk. “De mentis alienat. cap. 3. etsi multos hoc improbasse sciam, innumeros hac ratione sanatos longa observatione cognovi, qui vigesies, sexagies venas tundendo, &c.” On Mental Derangement, chapter 3. Although I know many have disapproved of it, long observation has shown me countless people cured in this way, by opening their veins twenty, sixty times, and so forth. Printed vigesies and sexagies are retained.

2605.Burtons. “Vires debilitat.” It weakens the strength.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 4 Retention and Evacuation as Causes, and How They Act

p. 229

For this reason, presumably, Salustius Salvinianus, book 2, chapter 1, will not allow or hear of any bloodletting in this disease unless it plainly proceeds from blood. He was, as appears from his own words there, in charge of a hospital for the insane, and found by long experience that this kind of evacuation, whether from the head, arm or any other part, did more harm than good.

Felix Plater takes the opposite view: “Though some look askance at, reject and entirely oppose all bloodletting for melancholy, I have found through long experience that countless people have been saved by it after being bled twenty, indeed sixty times, and have lived happily afterwards.” In the old days, in Galen’s time, it was usual to take six pounds of blood from such people at once, when now we scarcely dare take ounces. “But let the physicians look to that”: great books have been written on the subject.

When corrupt humours abound, omitting purging upwards and downwards may be harmful. Yet, as in the previous case, purging that is excessive, too frequent or too violent weakens their strength, says Fuchs, book 2, section 2, chapter 17. Even if they are strong and can bear the medicine, it still brings them into a bad bodily condition: they make their bodies no better than apothecaries’ shops, and this disease and similar infirmities must inevitably follow.

2602.The printed Salvinianus refers to the physician usually cited as Salvianus. His quoted Latin distinguishes his own hospital observations from the practice he criticises. “From blood” refers to the classification of melancholy by its bodily source, not simply to blood being present.

2604.Burton gives incompatible experiential claims from Salvianus and Plater, then leaves the dispute to physicians. The printed “wink at” is contextually oppositional alongside “disallow” and “contradict”; “look askance at” preserves that force. The historical quantities are left in their original units, not converted into modern treatment instructions.

2606.Purging “upward and downward” means inducing vomiting and bowel evacuation. An “ill habit” here is an unhealthy bodily constitution, not merely a repeated behaviour. The apothecary-shop image mocks a body continually filled with medicines.

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.

About Diotimos Editions

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.

Rights

Burton’s historical text is in the public domain. The modern English rendering, introduction, notes, and editorial matter are © 2026 Diotimos Editions and appear with the site owner’s permission. The complete supplied PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown files remain available unchanged. The PDF and Word edition preserve the original parallel page layout.