Frontispiece from Robert Burton The Anatomy of Melancholy London; 1836. Originally published 1621. Here are shown the variations of MELANCHOLY; from the youth in love to the maniac in chains and from the lover of solitude to the hypochondriac. At the bottom are Borage.and Helleborus niger (the latter was used as a purgative in the treatment of melancholy. Hippocrates (fl ca 400 BC) thought behaviour and temperament due to balance (or imbalance) of the four humours in the body. 01/01/1836