732 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



debris. The different ranks of the Sandwich-Islanders are of different 

 stature ; and we are told that the chiefs, though sunk in sloth and im- 

 morality, are not diminutive and decrepit, like many of their country- 

 men, for the reason that they fare sumptuously, take little or no 

 exercise, and are lomi-lomied after every meal, in order to. aid their 

 digestion and promote their circulation without inducing fatigue or 

 exhaustion. Lom.i-lomi is thus interestingly described by Nordhoff, 

 in his book on " Northern California, Oregon, and the Sandwich Isl- 

 ands " : " Wherever you stop, for lunch or for the night, if there are 

 native people near, you will be greatly refreshed by the application of 

 lomi-lomi. Almost everywhere you will find some one skilled in this 

 peculiar, and, to tired muscles, delightful and refreshing treatment. 

 To be lomi-lomied, you lie down upon a mat, or undress for the night, 

 if you prefer. The less clothing you have on the more perfectly the 

 operation can be performed. To you, thereupon, comes a stout native, 

 with soft, fleshy hands, but a strong grip, and beginning with your 

 head, and working down slowly over the whole body, seizes and 

 squeezes with a quite peculiar art every tired muscle, working and 

 kneading with indefatigable patience, until, in half an hour, whereas 

 you were weary and worn out, you find yourself fresh, all soreness and 

 weariness absolutely and entirely gone, and mind and body soothed to 

 a healthful and refreshing sleep. The lomi-lomi is used not only by 

 the natives, but among almost all the foreign residents ; and not 

 merely to procure relief from weariness, consequent upon over-exer- 

 tion, but to cure headaches, to relieve the aching of neuralgic or 

 rheumatic pains, and, by the luxurious, as one of the pleasures of life. 

 I have known it to relieve violent headache in a very short time. The 

 chiefs used to keep skillful lomi-lomi men in their retinues ; and the 

 late king, who was for some years too stout to take exercise, and was 

 yet a gross feeder, had himself lomi-lomied after every meal, as a 

 means of aiding his digestion. It is a device for relieving pain and 

 weariness which seems to have no injurious reaction, and no draw- 

 back but one it is said to fatten the subjects of it." 



Dr. Weir Mitchell has successfully proved that many chronic in- 

 valids can be cured by rest and excessive feeding, made possible by 

 means of massage and electricity. Under this combination of treat- 

 ment, skillfully carried out, many become fat, strong, and well, thus 

 illustrating the truth of Lord Bacon's remark, and the beneficial effects 

 of the not very scientific massage of the Sandwich-Islanders. The 

 lomi-lomi of the Sandwich-Islanders is only a series of intermittent 

 squeezes proceeding toward the extremities, thus hindering the re- 

 turning circulation ; and this illustrates another fact that many who 

 have had but one kind of pinching and squeezing think it is " excellent " 

 until they try some one who understands and can do it better ; more- 

 over, it shows that any sort of stirring up of the tissues is often better 

 than none. In using massage, as much depends on the qualities and 



