From the book
The Anatomy of Melancholy
Robert Burton · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordHydrophobia literally names fear of water.
- In the Anatomy of MelancholyHydrophobia is introduced among kinds of fury that Burton will touch briefly before concentrating on melancholy.
- In this editionThe modern column retains Hydrophobia, while the editorial note at the definition relates the historical illness to rabies and explicitly distinguishes Burton’s alleged routes from a modern account.
- A place to readHydrophobia among the conditions briefly separated from the main study of melancholy.
Meaning
Hydrophobia literally names fear of water. Burton uses it for the illness associated with a mad dog’s bite, not for an ordinary dislike of drinking or water. He calls it “a kinde of madness” and explains the water-aversion through sufferers’ supposed sight of a mad dog in liquid. The original name, the reported behaviour and the explanation are distinct: knowing what the name means does not establish the truth of the imagined-dog mechanism.
Use in the book
Hydrophobia is introduced among kinds of fury that Burton will touch briefly before concentrating on melancholy. Its detailed account then tests the boundary between bodily and mental disorder. Caelius Aurelianus is said to doubt whether it is “a passion of the body or the minde”; the ensuing sentences assign the affected part to the brain and the cause to a hot, dry poison from the dog. Extreme thirst and refusal to drink coexist in this account. Hildesheim’s dissection report is brought in to support the supposed disappearance of bodily moisture. Burton thus gives a bodily mechanism alongside an uncertainty about the disorder’s classification.
The transmission statements must remain attributed. The bite is followed by Aurelianus’s scratching and Schenck’s touching or smelling. Later, Themison is said to fall into hydrophobia merely on seeing another sufferer. The latter belongs to a discussion of frightening impressions and apprehension, not to a demonstrated route of infection. Similarly, the imagination chapter repeats the dog-image story to explain disturbed perception. Its “water” is rendered as urine on editorial grounds, whereas the original definition speaks of water “or any liquor.” The difference should not be hidden under a single modern paraphrase.
Burton accumulates incompatible-looking intervals before symptoms, from weeks through months to reported years, and then lists agitation, sleeplessness, visions, barking, fainting and fits of falling sickness. He supplies an absolute poor prognosis when the named signs appear. These assertions belong to the received disease narrative; they are not normalized into a present-day incubation schedule or prognosis. The succession of authorities and examples shows how his account expands, rather than resolving the discrepancies into a single assured measurement.
The therapeutic conclusion is more discriminating than the mere listing of practices might suggest. Burton describes immersion in seawater and charms as common country responses, but then directs readers to the most “approved Physicians,” especially Codronchus’s books. Reporting customary practices is not the same as recommending them over medicine. The chapter ends by ranking medical authority rather than by leaving every alleged cure on an equal footing.
Related entries
Madness supplies the larger historical classification; Apprehension explains the attributed power of a frightening impression. Charms owns the broader distinction among claimed cures. Compare Epilepsy and falling sickness (Epilepsy and falling sickness) and St Vitus’s dance (St Vitus’s dance).
Explained vocabulary: Additional Terms.
Places to read
- Subsection 3. Classification of Diseases of the Head · paragraph 15Hydrophobia among the conditions briefly separated from the main study of melancholy.
- Subsection 4. Mental Impairment, Frenzy, Madness, Hydrophobia, Lycanthropy, St Vitus’s Dance and Ecstasy · paragraph 24Its place among the named kinds of fury.
- Subsection 4. Mental Impairment, Frenzy, Madness, Hydrophobia, Lycanthropy, St Vitus’s Dance and Ecstasy · paragraph 30The definition, alleged routes and imagined-dog explanation.
- Subsection 4. Mental Impairment, Frenzy, Madness, Hydrophobia, Lycanthropy, St Vitus’s Dance and Ecstasy · paragraph 31Body/mind uncertainty; brain, poison, thirst and moisture.
- Subsection 4. Mental Impairment, Frenzy, Madness, Hydrophobia, Lycanthropy, St Vitus’s Dance and Ecstasy · paragraph 32Reported signs, intervals and absolute prognosis. [Context, not a headword attestation.]
- Subsection 4. Mental Impairment, Frenzy, Madness, Hydrophobia, Lycanthropy, St Vitus’s Dance and Ecstasy · paragraph 33; note 1525Additional and divergent intervals and case reports; the hydrophobia book is named in the accompanying note. [Context, not a headword attestation.]
- Subsection 4. Mental Impairment, Frenzy, Madness, Hydrophobia, Lycanthropy, St Vitus’s Dance and Ecstasy · paragraph 34Country practices contrasted with approved physicians. [Context, not a headword attestation.]
- Subsection 2. The Power of Imagination · paragraph 20; note 2785Water rendered as urine in the imagination chapter; the accompanying note explains why.
- Subsection 3 Terrors and Frights as Causes of Melancholy · paragraph 10Themison’s illness supposedly triggered by seeing a sufferer.
- H · paragraph 256The original Table’s route back to the description on page 10.
In this edition
The modern column retains Hydrophobia, while the editorial note at the definition relates the historical illness to rabies and explicitly distinguishes Burton’s alleged routes from a modern account. This article explains Burton’s wording rather than extracting medical guidance from it. Particularly important local choices are “thirsty” for dry, “urine” for water in the later imagination passage, and “reputable” for approved. They concern different lexical components and must not be treated as parts of the definition of hydrophobia itself.
Hydrophobia
The illness associated here with a mad dog’s bite and aversion to water.
Original wording: “Hydrophobia, is a kinde of madness”
Modern wording: “Hydrophobia is a kind of madness”
The literal fear-of-water name is embedded in a particular historical disease account. Burton’s classification as madness and his imagined-dog explanation should be retained as his account, not as the full modern definition of rabies. Further checked occurrences: the passage; the passage. Lookup: hydrophobia; fear of water; rabies [editorial comparison].
dry
Thirsty.
Original wording: “though they be very dry”
Modern wording: “although they are very thirsty”
This ordinary sense describes the sufferer’s thirst. It is distinct from the hot-and-dry qualities subsequently assigned to the supposed poison. The inability to drink is striking precisely because the patient is thirsty. Lookup: dry [thirsty].
water [urine]
Urine, in the later report of an imagined dog-image.
Original wording: “the picture of a Dog, still in their water”
Modern wording: “the image of a dog in their urine”
The modern rendering follows the editorial comparison with Agrippa. It is not the same local sense as water or any liquid in the earlier definition. The image itself remains a received report, not an observation verified in this edition. Lookup: water [urine]; urine.
approved Physicians
Physicians accepted as tried, reputable authorities.
Original wording: “the most approved Physicians”
Modern wording: “the most reputable physicians”
Approved here concerns trusted standing. Burton contrasts these authorities with customary immersion and charms, making a positive preference rather than merely listing rival cures. Lookup: approved; reputable physicians.