666 OPERATIONS. 



weeks, the power to walk freely and painlessly is restored in a short 

 time, rarely exceeding a fortnight. If the treatment be delayed 

 until adhesions have formed, massage will be required for a longer 

 time; and if the adhesions have had time to become firm, it may 

 be necessary to rupture them under an anaesthetic before massage 

 can be expected to be of much avail." 



We learn from Sir William Bennett that jDassive exercise (p. 24) 

 " should always be preceded by smooth massage, which sooths the 

 irritable muscles so completely that movements of the most com- 

 plete kind are readily employed without exciting muscular con- 

 traction of a harmful sort." 



In horse practice, the most useful forms of massage are rubbing 

 (effieurage) and kneading ^petrissage). In both, the pressure 

 should be exerted more or less in the direction in which the lymph 

 flows (towards the heart), and should be firm, after the first few 

 movements ; in fact it should be applied, so as to resemble muscular 

 pressure as nearly as possible. When the rubbing or kneading is 

 liable to irritate the skin, a little lanoline or vaseline can be 

 applied to the hands, so as to diminish friction. 



" Rubbing consists in gentle stroking and rolling of the skin, 

 gradually increasing in strength to moderately finn rubbing, in a 

 linear or curvilinear fashion, the firmer friction being always 

 employed in the direction of the blood and lymph currents towards 

 the heart. Over large muscular masses, the whole palmar surface 

 of one or both hands should be kept in close application to the 

 patient's skin, while in the smaller areas of the feet and hands, 

 and over bones unprotected by muscles, the palmar surface of the 

 thumbs and finger tips will be most conveniently employed. . . . 

 A good rubber will not relinquish the apposition of the palm to 

 the patient's skin, until the whole series of centripetal [towards the 

 heart] and centrifugal [away from the heart] strokes constituting 

 the effieurage of the part is completed. The extent of the stroke 

 in length will depend upon the dexterity and reach of the operator 

 as well as on the part of the body to which it is applied; but, 

 speaking generally, the greater the extent, the more grateful to 

 the patient will the manipulation prove to be'^ (Eccles). The 

 downward stroke should be light in all cases. The correct speed 

 of these double strokes may be put down at about 100 in the 

 minute. We learn from Dr. Eccles that in kneading, the base of the 

 palm of the hand should be kept close to the skin of the massaged 

 part, and that the squeezing should be done between the adducted 

 (brought together) fingers and the base of the palm of the hand ; 

 and not between the fingers and thumb, as in pinching. 



In hand-rubbing the tendons and ligaments of a horse's fore 

 leg, between the knee and fetlock, we should hold up the leg with 



