Arizona weekly citizen., 1888-03-31

Our Almond Eyed Brethren-A1 old Woman. Hard work-A Restsul s'rO- eess-Japanesc si.-IicaI Students. AsIam sitting !n " room there comes
 to my ears the sOua1 of a shriI pipe,
 sounding not unlis-e s;e. The traveller
 ip Japan. go where he may, almost invari-
 shly hears the sound at night, and will be
 told in answer Co his inquiries that the
 performance Is professional shampOOer
 or .mma. Many of these people are blind,
 snd at night pass up and down the streets,
 feeling their way with long sticks, which
 they hold in one hand. while with tho
 other hand they play upon the bamboo
 pipe, which seems to notify the world or
 their presence.
 The amma is not shampOOer in the
 American sense of the term. He does not
 confine his operations to the head and
 hair. He practices what is known by the
 French as the massage. His art consists
 fin kneading all the muscles of the body
 and bringing them into play, and he is re-
 CarSied as a useful functiOuary. second only
 in importance to the physician as a healer
 Of physicial disorders. The art k prac-
 ticed not only by men, but also by women,
 and at almost every inn where l have
 stopped among the first persons to prOfier
 their services have been the amaas. Only
 once have yielded tu their invitations 10
 allow my body tO be treated Ike piece
 of dough, and that was at Suh5sbirt. i'm
 mediately after my descent from FUji
 Tired and aching from tEe severe eXer.
 ton of climbing the mountain tae suS-
 gestiOn of Dr. knippinS that it might be
 well to allow an amina to shampoo us
 was acceded to, more from curiosity as Co
 the possible results than from any faith
 in the efficacy of the treatment.
 The particular amma who came Co our
 room and shampOced us was an ungainly and awfully ugly woman of middle age,
 whose blackened teeth when SEe smiled looked like a row of watermelon seeds set in her face. During the process l had aa opportunity to question her fully as Co the business, and learned from her quite a number of interesting facts. She informed us that before commencing the practice of her art she has been obliged to serve an apprenticeship of three years, during which time she read a large number of Japanese books teaching of the human body, and especially the muscles, and had become learned in anatomy and physi- ology. She had practiced the massage for ten years already, and had by means of it gained her livelihood. She stated that she was able in one evening, from to 10, Co treat four persons, who paid her fec of fifteen sen apiece. Her daily earnings were, however, not more than thirty sen on an average, or about twenty-four cents of American currency.
 In the operation of shampOoing, as practiced by the amma, the patient lies upon a futon or rug, while the anna kneelS beside him. The first act in The drama deals with the abdominal cavity. Placing one hand on either side of the abdomen, above the hips, the anna com presses the body laterally @ number of times, then drawing up the loose folds of flesh, he kDeads and pinches them. at the same time making passes which core spOnd in their direction with that of the colon. This portion of tho treatment ended, each leg Is attacked and vigorously rubbed and kneaded, the process termiu- ating by smart bsstinadl administered to the sOles of the feet.
 In rubbing and kneading the muscles use is made of a round ball of boXyOod. though the amma tO whose treatment I submitted employed only her fingers and knuckles. The arms and chest are treated | as the legs, and then the patient is turned over face downward, and the shoulders and back are punched and kneaded until the breath almost fOrsakeS the body The entire performance ends with a vigorous rubbing of the neck, which, in my case. seemed to threaten the dislOcation of the cervical Vertebrse The amount of | strength in fingers and wrists display ed | by the anna ts quite remarkable. Our | amma shampOOed four persons in succeS- sion the evening we engaged her. consUn- ing four hours in the task, during which | she was working with all her might al. | most constantly, only stopping tO wipe of the precipitation which flowed from her lace.
 The result of the experiment, so far as personally was concerned, was, l think, such as to warrant the repetition of the treatment under like circumstances. I lwoke on the morrow feeling far less tired md sore than I had reason to believe my | mountain climbing would have left me.
 The art of the anna appears likely to i've for long time tn Japan, as it is in 'ome respects founded upon rational prfn- ,iples. This is not. however, the case with the medical practitioner of the old Chinese school, whose practice is swiftly | md surely dwindling away as the merits ,f western medical theory malpractice are more and more recognized. Ina i'd style of practitioner, with his nos runs and entertainments, his mixtures of 'illainOus herbs and minerals, his DOW .ers made of dried snake skins and bird lung, is still in the numerical majority vhen census of the medical | of Japan is taken. but tbe oung men, graduates of the university at 'okio, are rapidly absorbing the entire ractice among the wealthier and more intelligent classes. The medical deuart- nent at the Imperial university at Tokio } under the care of German professors, nen of thorough ability and experience nd the results achieved during later ears have been most marked and most eneflcial to the country as whole. IA , the feeling of not a few Europeans resi- ent in Japan that, while always prefer. ing the services of a European or Amer. an practitioner, the graduate of the mi ersity at TOkio may generally be trusted treat q patient carefully and we'll Or. Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.