[Ads-l] Further Antedating of "Mad Scientist"
ADSGarson O'Toole
00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Tue Aug 4 09:26:24 UTC 2026
Great citation for "mad medical scientist", John. Nice work everyone.
John and JL mentioned H.G. Wells's character Dr. Moreau. Here is 1919
citation in which Dr. Moreau is called a "mad biologist".
Date: October 19, 1919
Newspaper: The Sun
Newspaper Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Article: Man Half-Soled
Quote Page 3, Column 2
Database: Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-madbiologist/203085306/
[Begin excerpt]
In the dear dead days beyond recall, before Mr. H. G. Wells became a
prophet, he described the island of Dr. Moreau, where a mad biologist
created numberless monsters by transposing the parts of ordinary
animals.
[End excerpt]
Garson
On Tue, Aug 4, 2026 at 4:56 AM John M. Baker
<0000192d2eeb9639-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> This is not the pulp fiction version of a mad scientist that Jonathan was looking for, but it does appear to me to be the modern term: "Yes, it is an experiment. But it will prove to be an experiment that will cost the very life of the Republican party. It will be like the experiment of the mad medical scientist of whom I read in boyhood. He killed a human body to have a vivisection, and to test whether by putting the various parts together, he could not vivificate it."
> The Stark County Democrat (Canton, Ohio), June 21, 1877, at 1 col. 4 (Newspapers.com).
>
> John Baker
------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
More information about the Ads-l
mailing list