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MASSAGE

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 864 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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MASSAGE . The word massage has of See also:

LATE

late years come into See also:

general use to signify the method of treating disease or other See also:

PHYSICAL

physical conditions by manipulating the muscles and See also:

JOINTS

joints. According to See also:

LITTRE, MAXIMILIEN PAUL SMILE (1801-1881)

Littre the word is derived from the Arabic See also:

mass, and has the specific meaning of " pressing the See also:

MUSCULAR

muscular partsof the See also:

BODY

body' with the hands, and exercising See also:

TRACTION (Lat. trahere, to draw)

traction on the joints in See also:

order to give suppleness and stimulate vitality." It was probably adopted from the Arabian physicians by the See also:

French, who have played a leading See also:

PART

part in reviving this method of treatment, which has been practised from See also:

time immemorial, and by the most See also:

PRIMITIVE

primitive See also:

PEOPLE

people, but has from time to time fallen into disuse among Western nations. In the Odyssey the See also:

WOMEN

women are described as rubbing and kneading the heroes on their return from See also:

BATTLE

battle. In See also:

India, under the name " See also:

SHAMPOO

shampoo " (tshampua), the same See also:

PROCESS

process has formed part of the native See also:

SYSTEM

system of See also:

MEDICINE

medicine from the most remote times; professional massers were employed there by See also:

Alexander the See also:

GREAT

Great in 327 B.C. In See also:

CHINA

China the method is also of great antiquity, and practised by a professional class; the See also:

SWEDISH

Swedish gymnastic system instituted by Pehr Henrik See also:

LING, PER HENRIK (1776-1839)

Ling is derived from the See also:

BOOK

book of Cong-Fou, the See also:

BONZE (from Japanese bonzo, probably a mispronunciation of Chinese fan sung, " religious person ")

bonze of Tao-Sse. See also:

HIPPOCRATES

Hippocrates describes and enjoins the use of manipulation, especially in cases of stiff joints, and he was followed by other See also:

Greek physicians. Oribasius gives an See also:

account of the application of See also:

FRICTION (from Lat. fricare, to rub)

friction with the See also:

BARE

bare hands, which exactly corresponds with the See also:

MODERN

modern practice of massage. It is worthy of See also:

note that the treatment, after being held in high esteem by the leading Greek physicians, See also:

fell into disrepute with the profession, apparently on account of its association with vicious abuses. The same See also:

DRAWBACK

drawback has made itself See also:

FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt in the See also:

PRESENT

present See also:

day, and can only be met by the most scrupulous care in the choice of agents and the manner of their employment. Among the Greeks, See also:

Romans, Egyptians, and later the See also:

TURKS

Turks, massage came to be part of the See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary See also:

PROCEDURE (Fr. procedure, from Lat. procedere, to go for-ward)

procedure of the See also:

bath without any See also:

SPECIAL

special therapeutic intention, and the usage has survived until to-day; but that mode of application was no doubt a refinement of civilized See also:

LIFE

life. Medical rubbing is older and more elementary than bathing, as we see from its employment by savages.

Probably it was evolved independently among different races from the natural See also:

INSTINCT

instinct—shared by the See also:

LOWER

lower animals—which teaches to rub, See also:

PRESS (through Fr. presse from Lat. pressare, frequentative of premere, to crush, squeeze, press)

press or lick any part of the body in which uneasiness is felt, and is therefore the See also:

OLDEST

oldest of all therapeutic means. According to See also:

WEISS, BERNHARD (1827– . )

Weiss, the therapeutic use of massage was revived in See also:

EUROPE

Europe by Hieronymus See also:

Fabricius ab Aquapendente (1537-1619), who applied it to stiff joints and similar conditions. See also:

PARACELSUS (c. 1490-1541)

Paracelsus in. his De medicina Aegyptiorum (1591), gives a description of methodical massage as practised by the Egyptians quite on modern lines. Thereafter it appears to have been adopted here and there by individual practitioners, and various references are made to it, especially by French writers. The word " massage " occurs in an See also:

ESSAY, ESSAYIST (Fr. essai, Late Lat. exagium, a weighing or balance; exigere, to examine; the term in general meaning any trial or effort)

essay written by See also:

PIERRE

Pierre Adolphe Piorry (1794-1879) for a large See also:

ENCYCLOPAEDIA

encyclopaedia which appeared in 1818, but it was probably used before. The practice was gradually advocated by an increasing number of medical men. In Great See also:

BRITAIN (Gr. Hperavuml vi7vot, Bperravia; Lat. Britannia, rarely Britannia)

Britain it was called " medical rubbing," and at See also:

EDINBURGH

Edinburgh Beveridge had a See also:

STAFF (O. Eng. staef, cf. Du. staf, Ger. Stab, &c.; Icel. stafr meant also a written letter, and O. Eng. stafas, the letters of the alphabet; " stave," one of the thin pieces of wood of which a cask is made, is a doublet)

staff of eight trained male rubbers. A book published by Estradere in 1863 attracted much See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention, but the See also:

man who contributed most to the modern popularity of massage was Metzger of See also:

Amsterdam, who began to use it tentatively in 1853, and then proceeded to study and apply it methodically. He published an essay on the subject in 1868. The modern refinements of the treatment are chiefly due to him: At the same time, its application by Dr See also:

SILAS (fl. A.D. 50)

Silas See also:

Weir See also:

Mitchell to hysterical and other See also:

NERVOUS

nervous conditions, in See also:

CONJUNCTION (from Lat. conjungere, to join together)

conjunction with the " See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest cure," has done much to make it known. Massage, as now practised, includes several processes, some of which are passive and others active. The former are carried out by an operator, and consist of rubbing and kneading the skin and deeper tissues with the hands, and exercising the joints by bending the patient's limbs.

The active movements consist of a special See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of gymnastics, designed to exercise particular muscles or See also:

groups of muscles. In what is called " Swedish massage " the operator moves the limbs while the patient resists, thus bringing the opposing muscles into See also:

PLAY

play. Some writers insist on confining the word " massage " to the rubbing processes, and use the general See also:

TERM

term " manipulation" See also:

MASSAGETAE

MASSAGETAE-See also:

MASSAWA, or MASSOWAII

MASSAWA It was against their See also:

queen Tomyris that See also:

Cyrus undertook the expedition in which according to one See also:

story he met his end. In their usages some tribes were nomads like the people of See also:

SCYTHIA (Gr. EKuOia)

Scythia (q.v.), others with their community of wives and See also:

HABIT (through the French from Lat. habitus, from habere, to have, hold, or, in a reflective sense, to be in a certain condition; in many of the English senses the French use habitude, not habit)

habit of killing and eating their parents recalled the See also:

ISSEDONES

Issedones (q.v.); while the dwellers in the islands of the See also:

RIVER

river were See also:

fish-eating savages. Probably the name denoted no ethnic unity, but included all the barbarous See also:

north-eastern neighbours of the Persians. See also:

HERODOTUS (c. 484-425 B.C.)

Herodotus says they only used See also:

gold and See also:

COPPER (symbol Cu, atomic weight 63.1, H=1, or 63.6, O = 16)

copper (or See also:

BRONZE

bronze), not See also:

SILVER

silver or See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron. Their lavish use of gold has caused certain massive ornaments from See also:

SOUTHERN

southern See also:

SIBERIA

Siberia, now in the Hermitage at St See also:

PETERSBURG

Petersburg, to be referred to the Massagetae. (E. H.

End of Article: MASSAGE

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