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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 Remedies That Divert the Humours

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Facing Pages · Branch 643 of 1495

Subsection 4 Remedies That Divert the Humours

Book Mode

1651 English

388–389

Cauteries and hot irons are to be used in the suture of the Crown, and the seared or ulcerated place suffered to run a good while. ’Tis not amiss to bore the skull with an instrument, to let out the fuliginous vapours.

Salust. Salvianus de re medic. lib. 2. cap. 1. Because this humour hardly yeelds to other Physick, would have the leg cauterized, or the left leg below the knee, and the head boared in two or three places, for that it much availes to the exhalation of the vapours:

I saw (saith he) a melancholy man at Rome, that by no remedies could be healed, but when by chance he was wounded in the head, and the skul broken, he was excellently cured. Another to the admiration of the beholders, breaking his head with a fall from on high, was instantly recovered of his dotage.

Gordonius cap. 13. part. 2. would have these cauteries tryed last, when no other Physick will serve. The head to be shaved and bored to let out fumes, which without doubt will do much good. I saw a melancholy man wounded in the head with a sword, his brain pan broken; so long as the wound was open he was well, but when his wound was healed, his dotage returned again.

But Alexander Messaria a professor in Padua lib. 1. pract. med. cap. 21. de melanchol. will allow no cauteries at all, ’tis too stiffe an humor and too thick as he holds, to be so evaporated.

Guianerius c. 8. Tract. 15. cured a noble man in Savoy, by boaring alone, leaving the hole open a month together, by means of which after two years melancholy and madness, he was delivered. All approve of this remedy in the suture of the crown; but ʸ Arculanus would have the cautery to be made with gold.

In many other parts, these cauteries are prescribed for melancholy men, as in the thighs, (Mercurialis consil. 86.) arms, legs Idem consil. 6. & 19. & 25. Montanus 86. Rodericus à Fonseca Tom. 2. consult. 84. pro hypocond. coxâ dextrâ, &c. but most in the head, ᶻ If other Physick will do no good.

7851.BurtonPrinted page 388, p: “cauterium fiat sutura coronali, diu fluere permittantur loca ulcerosa. Trepano etiam cranii densitas imminui poterit, ut vaporibus fuliginosis exitus pateat.” “Let a cautery be applied at the coronal suture; let the ulcerated places discharge for a long time. The thickness of the skull may also be reduced with a trepan, so that an outlet may be opened for sooty vapours.” Printed beneath the main text.

7853.BurtonPrinted page 388, q: “Quoniam difficulter cedit aliis medicamentis, ideo fiat in vertice cauterium, aut crure sinistro infra genu.” “Since it yields with difficulty to other medicines, let a cautery therefore be applied at the crown of the head, or in the left leg below the knee.” Printed beneath the main text.

7854.BurtonPrinted page 389, r: “Fiant duo aut tria cauteria, cum ossis perforatione.” “Let two or three cauteries be made, with perforation of the bone.”

7856.BurtonPrinted page 389, s: “Vidi Romæ melancholicum qui adhibitis multis remediis, sanari non poterat; sed cum cranium gladio fractum esset, optime sanatus est.” “I saw a melancholic man at Rome who could not be cured despite the application of many remedies; but when his skull had been fractured by a sword, he was completely cured.”

7857.BurtonPrinted page 389, t: “Et alterum vidi melancholicum, qui ex alto cadens non sine astantium admiratione, liberatus est.” “And I saw another melancholic man who, falling from a height, was freed of his illness, to the considerable astonishment of those standing by.”

7859.BurtonPrinted page 389, u: “Radatur caput & fiat cauterium in capite; procul dubio ista faciunt ad fumorum exhalationem; vidi melancholicum à fortuna gladio vulneratum, & cranium fractum; quam diu vulnus apertum, curatus optime; at cum vulnus sanatum, reversa est mania.” “Let the head be shaved and a cautery applied to it; undoubtedly these things help fumes escape. I saw a melancholic man accidentally wounded by a sword, his skull fractured: while the wound was open, he was completely cured; but when it healed, the madness returned.” The marginal container continues beneath the main text.

7862.BurtonPrinted page 389, x: “Usq; ad duram matrem trepanari feci, & per mensæm aperte stetit.” “I had the skull trepanned as far as the dura mater, and it remained open for a month.” Printed beneath the main text.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 4 Remedies That Divert the Humours

p. 643

Cauteries and hot irons are to be used at the suture of the crown, and the burned or ulcerated place allowed to discharge for a considerable time. It is also advisable to bore through the skull with an instrument, to let out the sooty vapours.

Sallustius Salvianus, On Medicine, book 2, chapter 1, because this humour scarcely yields to other treatment, would have the leg cauterized, or the left leg below the knee, and the head bored in two or three places, because this greatly helps the vapours to escape.

“I saw,” he says, “a melancholic man at Rome whom no remedies could heal; but when he happened to suffer a head wound and a fractured skull, he was completely cured.” Another, to the astonishment of the onlookers, fractured his skull in a fall from a height and immediately recovered from his mental derangement.

Gordonius, chapter 13, part 2, would have these cauteries tried last, when no other treatment will work. “The head is to be shaved and bored to let out fumes, which will undoubtedly do much good. I saw a melancholic man wounded in the head with a sword, his skull fractured: as long as the wound remained open, he was well, but when it healed, his mental derangement returned.”

But Alexander Messaria, a professor at Padua, Practical Medicine, book 1, chapter 21, on melancholy, will allow no cauteries at all: in his view the humour is too resistant and too thick to be evaporated in this way.

Guianerius, chapter 8, treatise 15, cured a nobleman in Savoy by boring alone, leaving the hole open for a whole month; by this means the man was freed from two years of melancholy and madness. All approve of applying this remedy at the suture of the crown, but Arculanus would have the cautery made with gold.

These cauteries are prescribed for melancholic people in many other parts of the body: in the thighs, for example, by Mercurialis, consultation 86; in the arms and legs by the same author, consultations 6, 19 and 25, and Montanus, consultation 86; and “for hypochondriacal melancholy, in the right hip,” by Rodericus à Fonseca, volume 2, consultation 84, and so on. But they are prescribed chiefly in the head, if other treatment will do no good.

7852.“Fuliginous” means sooty or smoke-like. The alleged escape of vapours explains the historical rationale for cautery and trepanning. The margin explicitly names the coronal suture, a joint between skull bones, and a trepan, an instrument for boring the skull. These are the procedures and claims of Burton’s authorities.

7855.The main text repeats “leg,” then specifies the left leg below the knee. The marginal Latin instead gives the crown of the head or the left leg. That discrepancy is preserved. The next margin specifies cauteries with perforation of the bone, whereas the body simply says that the head is bored.

7858.“Admiration” means astonishment; “dotage” here means disordered mental functioning rather than an affectionate infatuation or necessarily old age. Both stories are reported as testimony from Salvianus. The first margin specifies a sword wound, a detail omitted from the corresponding body sentence.

7860.The requirement to try these procedures last is part of the argument. The Latin margin says to shave the head and apply a cautery; the body says to shave and bore it. It also describes the returning disorder as mania. These variations are preserved without converting them into modern diagnostic claims.

7861.Messaria’s objection remains within the same humoral framework: he disputes whether the supposed material can escape by evaporation. Burton places disagreement immediately beside the success stories, rather than presenting a unanimous medical account.

7863.The margin adds that the boring reached the dura mater, the tough outer membrane around the brain. The body’s sweeping “all approve” follows Messaria’s explicit disagreement and is retained. A superscript y precedes Arculanus in the print, but no corresponding marginal container appears on the page; the marker remains in the original column without an invented note.

7864.The superscript z before the final qualification also lacks a corresponding marginal container. The condition “If other Physick will do no good” is retained in full. The scan reads Mercurialis consultation 86. “Pro hypocond.” refers to the hypochondriacal kind of melancholy; coxa dextra is the right hip.

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.