anatripsology

noun

Etymology: Borrowed from Italian anatripsologia, coined by Valeriano Luigi Brera in 1799, from Ancient Greek ἀνάτριψις (anátripsis, “rubbing”) + -λογῐ́ᾱ (-logĭ́ā).

1. The study or application of friction or rubbing as a remedy.

   “He was succeeded by one of his five doctor sons, Walter, a protagonist of the art of anatripsology. Rubbing with brandy had quite a vogue in Malvern.”

   “[…] They both agree on proposing, according to the dictates of ‘‘Anatripsology’’ [19], to apply frictions of ‘‘contused opium’’ and ‘‘milled nigricant pasque flower powder’’ dissolved in gastric juice extracted, in conformity with the Spallanzani method, from the starving stomachs of craws. […] […] All the therapies of the time are mentioned: emetics, musk, opium, nappello, giusquiamo, Brera’s anatripsology and electric and chemical-gas applications. […]”