vn. 



REMEDIAL MEASURES AND REMEDIAL METHODS 

 OTHER THAN DRUGS. 



MASSAGE. 



The word massage is used as the generic name for external 

 manijDnlations em2)]oyed for the purpose of affecting the nerves, 

 muscular system, and general circulation. It has been practiced 

 on animals and man from time immemorial, and is of great value 

 in the lower animals. The rubbing and grooming of the race 

 horse after the contest is a form of massage which is paralleled 

 by the rubbings and manipulations employed by the early 

 Greeks and Romans after the struggle in the arena. Massage 

 has grown out of the practice of simply rubbing the skin. It 

 has reached a high degree as a remedial measure in human 

 patients, and requires considerable training and aptness for prac- 

 ticing the art. Its good results are best achieved in the horse. 

 In practicing massage upon the horse, it is not necessary that 

 the operator be a highly educated jierson. It is essential, how- 

 ever, that the masseur have sufficient knowledge of anatomy to 

 understand the general drift of the circulation, the position and 

 shape of the muscles, and of the muscle masses. 



Massage is of great value in general conditions of lack of 

 muscular tone, nervous exhaustion, and failure of the peripheral 

 circulation. In some local diseases affecting chiefly muscular 

 tissue, its influence is most pronounced. By the influence of 

 massage on circulation and nutrition, tbe contents of the blood 

 vessels are moved onward, all backward movements of the blood 

 being prevented by the valves of the veins and by the propelling 

 power of the heart and arteries. Fluids outside these vessels 

 pass through their walls to take the place of the stagnant blood 



(135) 



