A manual of treatment by massage and methodical muscle exercise / by Joseph Schreiber ; translated, with the author's permission, by Walter Mendelson.

Date:
1887
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of treatment by massage and methodical muscle exercise / by Joseph Schreiber ; translated, with the author's permission, by Walter Mendelson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    These primary positions were subsequently modified and recombined, so that so-called “binary,” “ternary,” and “quar- ternary ” positions were formed. Thus the position of simple standing underwent a fourfold modification, as follows : First. By the position of the feet, into standing close, standing apart, toe-standing, gait-standing. Second. By position of the arms, into [The translator is here obliged to pause, for as the Anglo- Saxon mind is happily unable to conceive the absurdities of Ling’s nomenclature, the English language, is naturally not adapted for the expression of its terms—that is, in single words. In German, as is well known, it is justifiable to coiu almost as many new words as the necessity of the user calls for; hence there appears—to a German, at least—no diffi- culty in rendering Ling’s terms. Provided these terms were at all intelligible—which they are not—it would require several paragraphs at least to render one of them into English. That this statement may not seem exaggerated, I will instance as an example the German term for what is called the quarternary combination of tbe standing position. It contains forty-five letters and nine separate words, though it is written in German as a single word. This literary curiosity I give in one line, separating the words by hyphens, however, for the sake of the English reader, and on the line below the translation of each word will be found. Liuks-ruh-rechts-streck-gang-links-seits-stiitz-stehen. Left-rest-right-extended-gait-left-side-support-standing. It would seem as though only a professional “ man-snake ” could assume the positions which such a verbal contortion implies. At any rate, the reader is at liberty to try it himself, and should he escape without accident, an account of his efforts Avill certainly be appreciated by the public in general, and by the translator in particular.] The opinion of a scientist like Du Bois-Beymond, on tbe Swedish system, is worth recording. ITe says: “ There can really be no serious questioning regarding the scientific found- ation of Ling’s system. A mere glance at his writings is enough to show that they are a product of that miserable
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