[Ads-l] antedating of 'oudenology', etc.

[James Eric Lawson]

Oudenology, noun; OEDO (entry updated 2004; modified 2019) 1838, "The
science of nothing, or of things having no real existence." 1838 quote
"Apparently an isolated use".

In _The London Medical and Surgical Journal_, 25 July 1835, 825/2.
Article titled "Nothing of a Leader": "The substantialists may talk how
they like, but *oudenology*, so we shall name it, is a very important
branch of science--without its aid, some of the most celebrated medical
works of the day would collapse into atoms!"

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=iau.31858046176412&view=1up&seq=833&q1=oudenology

Another attestation November 1883, 84/2, in _New England Medical
Monthly_: "Benjamin Waterhouse, honorably known for having been the
introducer of vaccination into America, was the first professor of the
theory and practice of medicine. I remember him well, and carry the scar
of the vaccination he performed on me. ...  He had some learning, which
he was disposed to make the most of, as perhaps we all are if we have
it, and laid himself open to the playful sallies of the students of his
time, one of whom announced a course of lectures on Oudenology, which
was supposed to be a travesty of some of his prelections."

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015047691798&view=1up&seq=102&q1=oudenology

Occasional attestation thereafter in the 19th and 20th centuries, often
in a humorous medical context involving the history of vaccination.

-- 
James Eric Lawson

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