to keep me. By means of a second edition of the bribery and corruption I was conveyed to the station in the morning, and after fruitless endeavours to awaken the booking clerk I succeeded in stopping the train by the simple expedient of standing between the rails and refusing to stir. I got back to town that afternoon, feeling that I had had as good as six weeks in the country. I shall never go there again, but I still have the rules and regulations, and take them, from time to time, in small doses, medicinally.

D

CHAPTER III.

THE METHOD OF PERFORMING MASSAGE.

Now as to the method of performing Massage. In the first place it must be understood that there are several different kinds of Massage, or perhaps I ought rather to say, that Massage comprises several distinct modes of procedure. As a well-known writer says, "tous les Massages sont des manipulations tandisque toutes les manipulations ne sont pas des Massages." Massage is the generic term which includes the other specific forms. The terms used for the different varieties of Massage are, it will be seen, of French origin. They are in common use both in that country and in Germany. They are very old, and were employed ages ago, when Massage flourished in France.

I do not think that diagrams are of much use in illustrating the various forms of Massage, but in accordance with a very generally expressed desire

I append a few examples showing the different methods employed. They are as good as a good artist can make them, and they show something, though I fear not much. It is a treat to hear Schönberger playing a "Rhapsodie" of Liszt or an "Impromptu" by Schubert, but a photograph of that distinguished performer seated at his pianoforte can give but a faint idea of the delicacy of his touch or of his marvellous powers of execution. And so it is with Massage; an engraving may show the position of the hands at rest, but it can never indicate the various little niceties of touch and the delicacy of execution which, as the result of years of practice, are as a second nature to the thoughtful and intelligent Masseuse.

I. We begin then with what is called effleurage. This is a stroking movement made with the palm of the hand passing with various degrees of force over the surface centripetally. It may be practised with the fingers or with the thumb alone. It is of little value in itself, but produces good results when combined in various ways with the other procedures to be presently described. It is essential that the

movement should be as much as possible in the direction of the muscle fibres. It should never degenerate into mere rubbing. Every "movement" begins and ends with an effleurage performed quickly and perhaps forcibly. For deep-seated tissues the

Fig. 1 is an illustration taken from life of the method of performing effleurage of the forearm. It will be seen that the wrist is steadied with one hand, whilst the other performs the necessary movement. knuckles may be used instead of the palm of the hand. Noström says:-" The way is to begin at the extremity of the limb and slide the hand gently upwards towards the trunk. Before the right hand has quite accomplished its movement the left comes into play, starting from the same point. The exact

EFFLEURAGE.

37

mode of procedure will depend on the region subjected to treatment; for example, the palm of the hand could not be employed for the joints of the little finger." Beuster, of Berlin, describes effleurage as

Fig. 2 is simply diagrammatic, and illustrates a method of performing effleurage often met with in this country. The leg is held tightly by the outstretched fingers and thumb just above the ankle, and the hand is carried rapidly and firmly upwards towards the knee. The grasp is then relaxed, the hand returns to its original position, and the manœuvre is repeated. The fault is that the effleurage is represented as being performed on the ridge of the tibia.

consisting of "slow gentle strokes in a centripetal direction along the course of the veins and lymphatics made with the palm of the hand and with the pressure intermitting so as to cause passive peristaltic action." Jacoby says "the volar surface of the