386 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



relief to the pain, swelling, and stiffness ; so much, indeed, that 

 after a few massages of five or ten minutes each of frictions and 

 petrissage once a day, the dog had full use of the leg that had 

 been masseed, whereas the leg that had not been masseed remained 

 swollen, stiff, and painful for a long time, and in some did not 

 recover at all. It is but fair to state that, no matter how severely- 

 some of the dogs were injured, especially the shepherd dogs, they 

 did not seem to mind it at all after it was over, running about as 

 if nothing had happened as soon as they were set at liberty. 

 These were not chosen for massage. The details are amazingly 

 interesting, but space forbids mention of more than one of the 

 experiments, which may be taken as a fair sample. 



The two shoulder joints of a large watchdog were dislocated 

 by inward flexion. The head of the humerus of each was plainly 

 visible under the skin, showing a luxation forward and inward 

 intracoracoid. It was easily reduced, put back in place, by trac- 

 tion. Five minutes of massage was at once given to the right 

 shoulder, which seemed to afford relief, judging from the grateful 

 way in which the animal submitted ; and after this a figure-of-S 

 bandage was applied around both shoulders. He had massage 

 five minutes daily to the right shoulder alone, and for the first 

 three days he walked with difficulty. The right shoulder gradu- 

 ally became less painful to touch, and he stood firmer on this side. 

 On the fourth and subsequent days all sorts of pressure upon the 

 masseed shoulder were borne without discomfort ; but when the 

 other shoulder was pressed the dog growled and attempted to 

 bite. Six days after the dislocations he supported himself well in 

 the masseed limb, but held the other up, as the non-masseed 

 shoulder was still swollen and painful. Both shoulders then staid 

 in place, in spite of passive movements that might have dislocated 

 them. On the eighth day the dog walked well with the masseed 

 limb, but held the other up, as the latter was still swollen and 

 painful, and there was crepitation in the joint. Thirteen days 

 after the injury the dog took an occasional step with the limb 

 that had not been masseed, and two months later it was in about 

 the same condition, while he made free use of the limb that had 

 been masseed in walking and running. There was then atrophy 

 (wasting) of the muscles of the left shoulder, evident by the 

 prominence of the bones ; none, of the muscles of the right. 



Testimony in favor of the early use of massage in dislocations 

 in human beings, being careful not to move nor disturb the joint, 

 is gradually accumulating. Not only M. Castex, but also MM. 

 Fege, Archambaud, and others, have reported more favorable 

 results from its application from the very first day of the injury 

 than when it had not been used. Passive motion, I think, should 

 not be begun until the patients find that they can make a little 



