_Massage._--This constitutes a process of rubbing and kneading the body. It has been practiced from time immemorial among the oriental races and the Pacific Islanders as a means of relief from fatigue of every kind. Among the Japanese the practice of massage is a monopoly in the hands of the blind, who are thus enabled to support themselves. Various modifications of the oriental method have been introduced under the names of _percussion_, _shampooing_, and the _Swedish movement cure_. They all possess the common features of friction applied with the hand to the skin, compression of the muscles with the hands, and passive movements of the different articulations of the limbs and body. For effecting all these processes nothing has yet surpassed the Sandwich Island _lomi-lomi_ as practised by the court-retainers of the ancient chiefs. As a means of relieving fatigue, and of removing muscular soreness, after violent exertions of every kind, it is far superior to the imitations performed by European and American professional _masseurs_ and _masseuses_. Nervous headaches, the pains that accompany spinal irritation, and all conditions of restlessness and wakefulness which depend upon exhaustion are relieved by this method. The well-known soothing influence of a mother’s hand stroking the face and forehead of her sleepless child, is an example of only one of the effects thus produced by the skillful _masseur_. These salutary results must be assigned to the uniform friction of the skin, causing the liberation of heat, and modifying the electrical conditions of the body. By this, the impressions derived from the peripheral nerves are reduced to a more harmonious series. The circulation of blood and lymph is rendered more active in the substance of the muscles, and all the processes of nutrition are thus stimulated to a degree that restores the equilibrium of function throughout the nervous system. Being no longer irritated by suffering portions of the body with which it is connected, the brain then yields to the effects of its own fatigue, and sleep supervenes. _Electricity_ is chiefly useful in those cases where it is impossible to discover anything but cerebrasthenia as the cause of wakefulness. According to Beard and Rockwell,[39] sleep may result from the use of any one of the different methods of electrization. The passage of a moderate current, either galvanic or faradaic, through any portion of the body often produces a temporary feeling of sleepiness; but the long continued employment of electricity is needful to effect those changes in cerebral nutrition which are necessary for a permanent cure of insomnia. In cases of sleeplessness caused by worry and overwork, great benefit is often experienced from the daily passage of the faradaic current from the back of the neck, or from the pit of the stomach, to the feet. Static electricity, and the electric bath, are also very effective in many cases of so-called _spinal irritation_ and insomnia.