Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Flatuous Melancholy

In tonight's section of THE ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY Robert Burton brings us a French tale of "mischief procured of a medicine... which an unskilful Physician ministered his patient to drink, to arouse the erotick passions." Instead it gave the guy "flatuous melancholy," by which - to oversimplify a bit - Burton means gas.