University of Virginia Library

A. HISTORY OF MASSAGE.

Of all therapeutic agents now in use, not one has been so uniformly and so consistently resorted to, and so successfully practiced at all times, as massage: its history leads us back into the darkness of the most remote ages. Homer, in his Odyssey, already tells us how beautiful women rubbed and kneaded the anointed limbs of battle-worn heroes; this was to strengthen and rejuvenate the tired body, to give tone to the muscular system.

The oldest historians and physicians, poets and travellers, speak of massage and give very accurate descriptions, and modern travellers tell us of its use all over the globe; eastern travellers especially tell us of the luxury of massage in combination with the bath after wearisome exertion or labor.

In Rome we often hear of massage. Martial so speaks of it, slaves rubbed and anointed bathers in the public baths under Nero, Domitian, and Trajan.

Thus it served to strengthen muscle and nerve, but how much more evident that it should be resorted to for the purpose of alleviating pain: we instinctively place our hands upon a spot which pains, and by pressure seek to relieve it.

In acute diseases, Hippocrates advises detersive kneading, the douche, and the anointing of the body; those procedures which, combined, form part of the bath as prescribed for therapeutic purposes. In treating of the diseases of the joints, the brilliant Sage of Cos gives utterance to these memorable words: "the physician should be well versed in many arts, and among others, in that of massage; massage will strengthen the relaxed ligaments of a joint, and relax those which are too rigid.'' The father of medicine knew that by well-directed manipulations the ligaments could be strengthened, could be rendered pliable, and movement thus restored. Herodotus also gives careful directions as to this method of treating such disturbances.

In China and India, massage has been known since ancient times. The Chinese knead or rub down the entire body with their hands and exercise a gentle pressure on all the joints, together with a certain traction which is followed by a distinct noise, as is sometimes made by persons playfully distending the

joints of the fingers. Masseurs wander about the streets and cry out, lauding their talents. The Chinese themselves brought this art from India; that ancient Indian work the Artharvaveda, discovered towards the end of the last century by Sir William Jones, contains a part devoted to medicine—the Ayurveda; in this every one who looks for perfect health is advised to rise early, rinse his mouth, and then undergo a process of shampooing or massage. Upon the Pacific Islands, also, massage is well known, as we learn from the writings of Cook and Captain Wallis. The practice of kneading the body with the hands was imported into Europe by the crusaders from Syria and Palestine, together with the use of the warm bath. Unfortunately the art soon fell into the hands of quacks, but it was again brought within the sphere of medicine proper by Fabricius ab Aquapendente, the scholar of Fallopia, who utilized it, especially for affections of the joints, such as anchylosis and others. At the same period, combined active and passive motion was advocated by Mercurialis, Paracelsus, and Prosper Alpini, who highly praises flexion and massage in his work, De Medicina Ægyptiorum, Venice, 1591, and says that in Egypt massage was so popular that no one could leave a bath without undergoing the process. The advocates of the art in the last century were Hoffman and Tissot.

During the first years of this century the translation of the book of Cong-Fou, of the Bonzae by Tao-Ssé, by the missionaries Huc and Amiot, created a great sensation; and this seems to have formed the basis of Peter Ling's Swedish gymnastics as proven by Dally end Estradere, although not in anyway mentioned by Ling himself. Still Ling and his successor granting did much good. In the northern countries, in Russia, Prussia, in Denmark, and especially in Sweden, the Kinesitherapie, or treatment by massage, is highly esteemed; and the names of Ling and Meding are greatly honored in connection with this method. The most illustrious practitioners of the day throughout Europe are beginning to resort to it in various affections. Among them I will mention especially the names of Blache, Sée, Roger, Guersant, Glosselin, Récamier, Sarlandier, Metzger, and above all Nélaton and Trousseau, and in obstetrics, Kristeller, Credé, and Martin.

The numerous manipulations practiced in massage will be best understood if divided into four classes.

First, a gentle rubbing (effleurage, friction douce). An easy gliding of the palmer aspect of the hand and fingers over the parts. The maximum of pressure hereby exercised ought never to be greater than the weight of the gliding hand.

Second, pressure (pression, friction forte, massage). A firm intermittent compression of the muscles and their coverings by the hands or fingers. The force used is measured only by the strength of the masseur.

Third, kneading (petrissage, malaxation). A methodical pressure exercised upon the muscles with the entire hand or fist in a perpendicular direction, best compared to the kneading of dough.

Fourth, functional movements (mouvements, function). Variable attitudes and motions undertaken by the patient with the assistance of the masseur upon various movable parts of the body, such as the sufferer had not been able to freely practise alone: supination and rotation, for instance.

The physiological effects are readily seen. The circulation is improved, absorption is furthered, pain is eased, the nerves are strengthened, the nervous system is especially quieted, and the physiological activity of the body increased without cost of fuel—muscular or nervous exertion—to the patient. There is a probability of a greatly stimulated idio-muscular contractility; and it seems as if massage had an effect similar to electricity upon the muscles. The contractions aroused by massage are a great factor in the process of absorption generated by it. The importance of massage in obstetric practice is at once evident. Its soothing, nerve-quieting influence allays the excitement of the patient; the muscles are stimulated to increased activity; and these abdominal manipulations will serve a most excellent purpose in uterine inertia. They are absolutely harmless, uterine activity is increased, the expression of the child hastened, and, after it is delivered, the uterine contraction furthered, and in case of atony, that is overcome and hemorrhage checked; but pressure upon the fundus, the direct vis a tergo, is, above all others, one of the most important factors in obstetric practice, and, by reason of its simplicity, within reach of every one. Recently rediscovered by scientific obstetricians, primitive people, thrown upon their own resources, have practiced these methods at all times.