An example of a science pun, and historical alternative conceptions:
"Two medical gentlemen had suggested wrapping [cholera] patients in wet sheets, in order to restore heat to the surface of the body. Taylor saw hydrotherapy as quackery, and began his dismantling of their treatment by joking, 'We by no means wish to damp the ardour of hydropathists…' Another doctor had suggested freezing parts of the alimentary canal, believing that cooling the body was a cure… A Spanish doctor recommended taking large amounts of olive oil, a treatment that Taylor believed 'baffles all theory', and a British doctor suggested swallowing salt at every meal 'in heroic doses'; his theory was that the salt would release chlorine, which would disinfect the stomach."
Helen Barrell (2017) Fatal Evidence. Professor Alfred Swaine Taylor & the dawn of forensic science. Pen & Sword
