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 3 Alteratives Herbs and Other Plant Remedies

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1651 English Page · Branch 614 of 1495

Subsection 3 Alteratives Herbs and Other Plant Remedies

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1651 English

367–368

SUBSEC. 3. Alteratives, Herbes, other vegetals, &c.

Amongst those 800 simples, which Galeottus reckons up, lib. 3. de promisc. doctor. cap. 3. and many exquisite herbalists have written of, these few following alone, I finde appropriated to this humour: Of which some be alteratives; which by a secret force, saith Renodæus, and speciall quality expell future diseases, perfectly cure those which are, and many such incurable effects.

This is as well observed in other plants, stones, minerals, and creatures, as in herbs, in other maladies as in this. How many things are related of a mans skull? What severall vertues of corns in a horse legge, of a Wolves liver, &c. Of diverse excrements of beasts, all good against severall diseases?

What extraordinary vertues are ascribed unto plants? Satyrium & eruca penem erigunt, vites & nymphea semen extinguunt, some herbs provoke lust; some again, as agnus Castus, waterlilly, quite extinguisheth seed: poppy causeth sleep, Cabbige resisteth drunkenness, &c.

and that which is more to be admired, that such and such plants, should have a peculiar vertue to such particular parts, as to the head Anniseeds, foalfoot, Betony, Calamint, eye-bright, Lavander, Bayes, Roses, Rue, Sage, Marjorum, Piony, &c. For the lungs Calamint, Liquorice, Ennula campana, Hysop, Horehound, water Germander, &c. For the heart, Borage, Buglosse, Saffron, Bawm, Basil, Rosemary, Violet, Roses, &c.

For the stomack, Wormwood, Mints, Betony, Bawm, Centaury, Sorel, Purslan. For the liver, Darthspine or Camæpitis, Germander, Agrimony, Fennell, Endive, Succory, Liverwort, Barbaryes. For the spleen, Maidenhair, finger-ferne, dodder of thyme, hoppe, the rinde of ash, Betony. For the kidnies, grumell, parsly, saxifrage, plantane, mallowe. For the womb, mugwort, pennyroyall, fetherfew, savine, &c. For the joynts, Camomile, S. Johns-wort, organ, rue, cowslips, centaury the lesse, &c.

And so to peculiar diseases. To this of melancholy you shall find a Catalogue of herbs proper, and that in every part. See more in Wecker, Renodeus, Hœurnius lib. 2. cap. 19. &c. I will briefly speak of them, as first of alteratives, which Galen in his third book of diseased parts, prefers before diminutives, and Trallianus brags, that he hath done more cures on melancholy men by moistning, then by purging of them.

7495.BurtonPrinted page 367, n: “Quæ cæcâ vi ac specifica qualitate morbos futuros arcent. lib. 1. cap. 10. Instit. Phar.” By a hidden power and a specific quality they ward off future diseases. Pharmaceutical Institutes, book 1, chapter 10.

7497.BurtonPrinted page 367, o: “Galen. lib. epar lupi hepaticos curat.” Galen, book [unspecified]. A wolf’s liver cures those with liver disease.

7498.BurtonPrinted page 367, p: “Stercus pecoris ad Epilepsiam &c.” Livestock dung against epilepsy, and so on.

7500.BurtonPrinted page 367, q: “Priestpintle, rocket.”

7501.BurtonPrinted page 367, r: “Sabina fœtum educit.” Savin brings forth the fetus.

7503.BurtonPrinted page 368, s: “Wecker. Vide Oswaldum Crollium lib. de Internis rerum signaturis, de herbis particularibus parti cuique convenientibus.” Wecker. See Oswald Croll’s book On the Inner Signatures of Things, concerning particular herbs appropriate to each part.

7506.BurtonPrinted page 368, t: “Idem Laurentius c. 9.” Laurentius says the same, chapter 9.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 3 Alteratives Herbs and Other Plant Remedies

p. 614

SUBSECTION 3 Alteratives herbs and other plant remedies

Among the 800 simples enumerated by Galeottus in book 3 of On Various Kinds of Learning, chapter 3, and described by many accomplished herbalists, I find only the following few specifically suited to this humour. Some are alteratives, “which by a hidden power,” says Renodaeus, “and a special quality ward off future diseases, perfectly cure those already present, and remedy many such incurable conditions.”

This is observed in other plants, stones, minerals and animals as well as in herbs, and in other illnesses as well as this one. How many things are reported of a human skull? What different powers are attributed to the horny growths on a horse’s leg, to a wolf’s liver and so forth? Or to various animal excrements, all said to be good against particular diseases?

What extraordinary powers are ascribed to plants! “Satyrion and rocket cause an erection; vines and water lilies extinguish semen.” Some herbs arouse sexual desire; others, such as chaste tree and water lily, entirely suppress semen. Poppy causes sleep; cabbage resists drunkenness, and so on.

More remarkable still is that particular plants should have a special power over particular parts of the body: for the head, aniseed, coltsfoot, betony, calamint, eyebright, lavender, bay, roses, rue, sage, marjoram, peony and so on. For the lungs, calamint, liquorice, elecampane, hyssop, horehound, water germander and so on. For the heart, borage, bugloss, saffron, balm, basil, rosemary, violet, roses and so on.

For the stomach, wormwood, mints, betony, balm, centaury, sorrel and purslane. For the liver, darthspine or chamaepitys, germander, agrimony, fennel, endive, chicory, liverwort and barberries. For the spleen, maidenhair, finger fern, dodder of thyme, hops, ash bark and betony. For the kidneys, gromwell, parsley, saxifrage, plantain and mallow. For the womb, mugwort, pennyroyal, feverfew, savin and so on. For the joints, chamomile, St John’s wort, organ, rue, cowslips, lesser centaury and so on.

The same applies to particular diseases. For melancholy you will find a catalogue of suitable herbs, for every affected part. See further in Wecker, Renodaeus, Heurnius, book 2, chapter 19, and others. I will discuss them briefly, beginning with alteratives, which Galen, in his third book On the Affected Parts, prefers to evacuating remedies; Alexander of Tralles boasts that he has cured more melancholy patients by moistening them than by purging them.

7496.A “simple” is a single medicinal substance; an “alterative” was intended to change an unhealthy bodily condition without evacuation. “Humour” here is the melancholic humour. Burton reports the powers assigned to remedies by his authorities within historical medicine. “Secret” means hidden or unexplained. The marginal Latin promises prevention; the English body adds cure and the deliberately striking phrase “incurable effects.” The precise Galeottus and Renodaeus passages remain to be collated.

7499.“Corns” means the horny growths on a horse’s leg. Burton’s materia medica includes animal and human substances as well as plants and minerals. The rhetorical questions accumulate reported powers rather than explain how they operate.

7502.The margin glosses satyrium as “priestpintle,” an old plant name whose precise identification is not settled here. The Latin reads vites, “vines,” whereas the ensuing English names agnus castus, the chaste tree; vitex would agree with that name, but the printed wording is retained. “Seed” means semen. The savin note adds a different reproductive effect and is retained at its printed anchor.

7504.The catalogue assigns remedies to organs according to period medicine. “Foalfoot” is coltsfoot: Culpeper’s contemporary English Physitian also gives the paired names. Ennula campana is rendered elecampane. The sequence and repetitions are preserved rather than reorganized by modern botanical classification.

7505.“Succory” is chicory; “rinde” is bark; “grumell” is gromwell, a name also documented by the Anglo-Norman Dictionary. “Fetherfew” is feverfew and “savine” savin. The less certain names darthspine, finger fern and organ are retained rather than assigned unverified species. Camæpitis is normalized to chamaepitys in the modern column. This vocabulary is not a species-level identification of every remedy.

7507.“Diminutives” reduce or evacuate bodily matter; “moistening” and purging are contrasted as modes of humoral treatment. Trallianus is Alexander of Tralles. The t reference to Laurentius has no clearly visible matching body marker in this scan; it is attached to the report about Trallianus to which it is aligned. The precise passage remains to be collated.

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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