MAtSSAaE. 667 



one hand, and should begin by gentle rubbing from below upwards, 

 by means of the balls of the finger tips, thumb and palm of the 

 other hand; the pressure being gradually increased until it is 

 fairly firm. The stroke should be made through the whole extent 

 of the cannon bone, and its strength should be decreased as it 

 approaches the knee. Kneading can be subsequently employed, 

 as the case may indicate. The fact of the flexor tendons and liga- 

 ments being relaxed by the knee and fetlock being bent, will 

 greatly aid the good effect of the massage. 



In veterinary j)ractice, massage is particularly useful in sprains, 

 bruises (including inflammatory swellings from unevenly distri- 

 buted pressure, as in saddle and harness galls), synovial enlarge- 

 ments (p. 322), serous cysts (p. 333), swollen joints, sore shins 

 (p. 246), and in the first stages of splints. . 



If the skin of a part which requires to be massaged is broken, 

 the rubbing o<r kneading should be applied only to the neighbouring 

 parts that have their skin intact. 



Massage is valuable not only in cases of injury and disease, but 

 also for promoting the general health, and for preventing it being 

 lowered under ordinaiy conditions of life. For instance, it is 

 joarticularly useful in the relief of muscular fatigue, the feeling of 

 which arises from the presence, in the over- worked muscles, of 

 certain waste products of muscular contraction, which more or less 

 paralyse the muscles for the time being. We may therefore con- 

 clude that their removal is the cause of the rapid restoration of 

 muscular vigour which follows well-applied massage in these cases. 

 Referring to the experiments of Zabludowski in demonstrating the 

 restorative effects of massage on fatigued muscles, Dr. Eccles tells 

 us that " in a series of experiments on able-bodied men, in whom 

 the muscles of the fore arm were rendered powerless both by the 

 exhaustion following rhythmical contractions stimulated by the 

 induction current, and by the fatigue of squeezing a dynamometer 

 until the pressure became so feeble that the indicator could not be 

 made to travel beyond five pounds. In every case the limb was 

 subjected to ten minutes' massage, with the result that whereas ten 

 minutes' rest alone produced little or no effect on the pressure, 

 after massage the indicator pointed to a rise of from forty to fifty 

 pounds. The measurement of the limbs before and after massage 

 was taken, with the result that at the period of greatest exhaustion, 

 the circumference of the fore arm had increased in some cases 

 three-eighths of an inch; at the conclusion of ten minutes' rest 

 without massage no diminution had occurred, but after massage, 

 three-fourths of an inch decrease has been noted." These experi- 

 ments scientifically prove that the good eft'ects of massage on 

 fatigued horses, should be largely utilised. In England, the 



