A practical treatise on massage : its history, mode of application, and effects, indications and contra-indications; with results in over fourteen hundred cases / by Douglas Graham.

  • Douglas Graham
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A practical treatise on massage : its history, mode of application, and effects, indications and contra-indications; with results in over fourteen hundred cases / by Douglas Graham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    other assertions made by gymnastic professors on the subject of rubbing. Sudden and violent efforts at running, jumping, lifting, and the like, by those unaccustomed to them, especially if they have passed the meridian of life, are apt to cause rupture and strain of muscular and tendinous fibres owing to a lack of suppleness in these tissues. It would be difficult to improve on the preven- tive treatment of such injuries advised by Galen. The multitude of modern greasers and bruisers, who are supposed to be doing massage, might profit by the hint of Galen as to the best time of applying unctuous materials ; and those who attempt to explain their doings by calling tendons, nerves, and other such nonsense had better take heed to the criticisms of Galen on the assertions of gymnastic professors. No wonder that he took so much in- terest in exercise and kindred measures for the improvement and maintenance of health, for history tells us that till the age of thirty years he was weakly, but became strong and of good health by devoting several hours a day to bodily exercise, and in this way cured a host of sicknesses and weaknesses in others. It was sometimes amusing and absurd to what an extent some of these old writers noted their appreciation of rubbing, especially in the care of that canine domestic idol which too often takes the place of the baby. Arrian, who probably lived about the year of our Lord 243, says : And great is the advantage of rubbing to the clog of the whole body—not less than to the horse, for it is good to knit and to strengthen the limbs, and it makes the hair soft and its hue glossy, and it cleanses the impurities of the skin. One should rub the back and the loins with the right hand, placing the left under the belly, in order that the clog may not be hurt from being squeezed from above into a crouching position ; and the ribs should be rubbed with both hands ; and the buttock as far as the extremities of the feet ; and the shoulder blades as well. And when they seem to have had enough, lift her up by the tail, and having given her a stretching let her go. And she will shake herself when let go, and show that she liked the treatment.—[Arrian Cynegeticus.] Aside from the beneficial effects of the friction, the stretching