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 A Logical Format from Start…
Each chapter begins with a consistent set of features that help
readers set their goals.

2
CHAP T ER
• Chapter Outline provides an organized overview of the History of Massage as a Vocation
material to be covered.
• Learning Outcomes points readers toward intended
CHAPTER OUTLINE
goals.
Learning Outcomes Natural Healing and Drugless
Doctors

From Massage and Training by Andrews, 1910.

Key Terms
• Key Terms identifies essential words and concepts. History of a Vocation
Massage Therapy Revived in the
United States
Personal Grooming and Massage Therapists and
Rejuvenation Bodyworkers
Sports and Fitness Chapter Highlights
Health Care Exam Review

LEARNING OUTCOMES
After studying this chapter, you will have information to:

1. Trace the history of massage related to personal care
services.
2. Describe the use of massage for athletes from ancient
times to the present.
3. Explain how massage has been used over the centuries
in Western medicine.
4. Identify aspects of today’s massage therapy that can be
traced to the natural healing philosophy.
5. Name important figures in the history of massage and
describe their contributions.
6. Discuss factors leading to the revival of massage as a
popular health practice in the 1970s.
7. Describe important developments in the massage
profession in recent decades.

KEY TERMS
Aleiptes Health service operator Medical gymnast Sobardoras
Ammashi Massage operator Rubbers Trained masseuses
Bath attendant Masseurs/masseuses



…To Finish
    2#46 r 6#22#0o5)7+&'61*'#.+0)/#55#)'
9. How is full, firm contact best achieved when applying
effleurage techniques with the hands?
a. Hands mold to the surface of the body.
b. Hands are held stiffly, and only the palms touch the
body.
c. Hands are relaxed, and only fingertips touch the
body.
d. Fingers are spread and rake the skin.
Each chapter concludes with a built-in study guide that helps
prepare students to succeed in their training and beyond.
10. Before applying deep massage techniques, tissues in
the area should be thoroughly:
a. Cooled off
b. Warmed up
c. Frictioned
Chapter Highlights summarizes each chapter’s information in a
d. Lubricated
user-friendly, bulleted outline.

Video Challenge
Watch the Swedish Massage Techniques videos, which can
be found at MyHealthProfessionsLab.com, Chapter 12, and
then answer the following questions.
1. In the video, various types of petrissage are dem-
onstrated on different parts of the body. Why were
specific body areas chosen for these petrissage
demonstrations?
2. Notice that variations of the tapotement technique Exam Review presents several different tools to help readers
make different sounds. Can you describe the different
sounds made by these tapotement variations?
3. What do you notice about the color of the receiver’s
skin in the area of technique application for effleur-
confirm their mastery of the content. Features include:
age, petrissage, and friction? Why does this change
in color occur?

• Key Terms – a matching exercise for studying and applying

Comprehension Exercises
The following short-answer questions test your knowledge
and understanding of chapter topics and provide practice in
2. What are the possible effects of passive touch? How is
it typically used in a massage session?
essential vocabulary
written communication skills. Explain in two to four com- 3. Describe the use of lubricant when applying Swedish

• Memory Workout – a fill-in-the-blank review of main concepts

plete sentences.
1. Describe superficial and deep friction. Why are both
of these techniques considered friction? How are they
different?
For Greater Understanding
The following exercises are designed to take you from the
realm of theory into practical applications. They will help
massage techniques. How does the optimal amount of
lubricant differ among different techniques? Give an
example.
• Test Prep – a multiple-choice mock exam
3. Watch a video of a full-body Swedish massage
(or portion of a session) and identify the techniques
• Video Challenge – a quiz based on selected segments of the

give you a deeper understanding of the techniques covered
in this chapter. Action words are underlined to emphasize
the variety of activities presented to address different learn-
ing styles and to encourage deeper thinking.
1. Make a video of yourself performing each massage
technique variation. Watching the video, analyze your
hand and body mechanics. Perform the techniques
again, correcting mechanics. (Alternative: substitute
an observer for the videotape.)
2. After developing skill in the techniques illustrated in
the book, experiment with your own technique vari-
ations. Explain to a practice partner what effects you
are trying to accomplish, and why you think your vari-
ation would be effective for that purpose.
videos.
observed. Describe how the techniques are used in the
session (e.g., warming, transition, ending), and their
different potential effects (e.g., circulatory, muscle
relaxation, general relaxation). (Alternative: substitute
a live massage session for the video.)
4. Receive a massage and pay attention to the feel of
the different techniques; name them in your mind
• Comprehension Exercises – a series of short-answer ques-
as they are applied. Notice how they are used by the
practitioner.
tions that key in on important ideas.
• For Greater Understanding – suggested field-based activi-
ties that employ various learning styles to help readers apply
chapter concepts
v   

A01_TAPP2691_06_SE_FM.indd 5 11/03/15 6:05 pm

 A Wealth of Learning Tools on Every Page
Photoreal Illustrations
Over 880 full-color illustrations provide first-class reinforcement
for visual learners. The photoreal style is clear, focused, and
detailed, without background distractions.
%#5'(14567&;
Nadia and Preventing Overuse Injuries
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DGIKPCLQDCVCURCYJGPUJGITCFWCVGU5JGJCUTGEGPVN[DGIWP
VQIGVRCKPUKPJGTJCPFUCPFYTKUVUCPFJCUCNQVQHVGPUKQPKP
JGTWRRGTDCEMCHVGTIKXKPIOCUUCIGKPENCUU
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9JCVECP0CFKCFQVQOKPKOK\GVJGPGICVKXGGHHGEVUUJGKUHGGNKPI
HTQOIKXKPIOCUUCIG!
Practical Application
Activities that involve observation, role play, creativity, and
planning.
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. QECVGCUEKGPVKHKETGUGCTEJTGRQTVCDQWVCENKPKECNCRRNKECVKQPQH
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QHC4GUGCTEJ4GRQTVCPF6CDNG4GUGCTEJ4GRQTV'XCNWCVKQP
9QTMUJGGV
Reality Check
A report-from-the-real-world feature, in which a new massage therapist asks for advice
from a more experienced colleague who provides an insightful view into the profession
by responding to questions, feelings, and doubts often left unmentioned.
vi   
A01_TAPP2691_06_SE_FM.indd 6
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9JCVYCUVJGTGUGCTEJOGVJQF!
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CRRNKECVKQPU!
A B
C
(+)74'sDraping for massage of arm. A. Hold arm to side and tuck drape at ribs. B. Lift arm across chest and tuck sheet
underneath the shoulder. C. Place the arm on table ready for massage.
Case for Study
Real-world, critical-thinking scenarios that challenge readers to
analyze a situation and solve the problem.
24#%6+%#.#22.+%#6+10
' ZRGTKOGPVYKVJFKHHGTGPVYC[UVQCRRN[GHHNGWTCIGQTUNKFKPI
VGEJPKSWGUVQXCTKQWUCTGCUQPCRTCEVKEGENKGPV(QEWUQPGCUG
QHCRRNKECVKQPCPFCXQKFKPIUVTCKPQP[QWTDQF[
*QYFQ[QWOCKPVCKPIQQFQXGTCNNDQF[CNKIPOGPVYJGP
CRRN[KPIUNKFKPIVGEJPKSWGU!
*QYFQ[QWCRRN[GHHNGWTCIGVQCNQPINGIQTCTOYKVJQWV
NGCPKPIHQTYCTFVQQOWEJ!
Critical Thinking
Situations that students can analyze and evaluate on a deeper
level, by contemplating thoughtful questions, asking intelli-
gent questions, broadening their knowledge base, and making
informed decisions.
9JCVCTGFKHHGTGPVJCPFRQUKVKQPUCPFUWTHCEGU[QWECP
WUGHQTFKHHGTGPVCTGCUHQTGZCORNGGHHNGWTCIGQPVJGCTO
UJQWNFGTHQQVPGEMQTHCEG!
4GRGCVVJGGZRGTKOGPVYKVJFKHHGTGPVOCUUCIGVGEJPKSWGU
UWEJCUMPGCFKPICPFEQORTGUUKQP
REALITY CHECK
ROB
WENDY: The other day I was giving a massage
and noticed that the client didn’t have any
toenails. It hadn’t come up in the intake
interview, and I was a little surprised.
I didn’t know what to say, but also didn’t
want to hurt her when massaging her feet.
What can you do in a case like that?
ROB: Remember that many people have struc-
tural abnormalities that they have lived
with for a long time and might forget to
mention. If your demeanor is professional
and you don’t act embarrassed or overly
concerned, it will put the client at ease in
talking about the situation. Be matter of
fact and say something like, “I notice that
you don’t have any toenails. Is there any-
thing I need to know when massaging your
feet? Are your toes tender?” This might
be enough to get the person to talk to you
about the situation. Then you can deter-
mine if any contraindications or cautions
apply. The important thing is to acknowl-
edge the situation, get the information you
need to make good decisions, and docu-
ment the condition on his or her health
history after the session.
11/03/15 6:05 pm
 Organized for Student Success
Tappan’s Handbook of Massage Therapy is divided into six parts covering the essential competencies.
Part 1: Foundations for Massage Therapy Professionals
An overview of the massage therapy profession and its history, important elements of
personal and professional development, and ethical considerations. It addresses foun-
dation knowledge apart from hands-on skills.
Chapter 2: History of Massage as a Vocation looks at who went into the
occupation, how they were trained, what types of skills and knowledge
they had, their work conditions, and their status in society. It describes dif-
ferences in various times and locations, how situations changed over the
years, and what factors influenced the work of massage practitioners, while
providing a better understanding of today’s massage therapy profession.
Part 2: Foundations of Planning and Giving Massage
Background specific to planning effective and safe massage therapy sessions and coverage
of the physical setup for massage. It takes the view that no matter where massage
therapists work, they owe it to clients to provide a safe environment and to tailor
sessions to meet client expectations and goals.
Part 3: Tappan’s Guide to Healing Massage
An introduction to basic Swedish massage and joint movement techniques, regional
applications, and hydrotherapy and temperature therapies. It presents essential
hands-on skills and applications.
Chapter 14: Full-Body Swedish Massage explains how individual techniques
are organized logically into massage routines that address the entire body. It
presents a suggested full-body Practice Sequence that can be used to demon-
strate basic principles, or as a starting point for learning full-body massage.
Part 4: Tappan’s Guide to Special Applications
Provides approaches for enhancement of basic Swedish massage and adaptations to
address needs of special populations, an overview of spa treatments, and planning
and giving seated massage.
Chapter 19 Spa Treatments presents common spa applications. Detailed
instructions are provided for applying herbal wraps, skin treatments,
temperature therapy, and massage sessions common in spa settings.
Part 5: Tappan’s Guide to Contemporary Massage and Bodywork
Introduces myofascial massage, trigger point therapy, lymphatic facilitation, reflexo­
logy, and popular forms of energy-based bodywork from Asia.
Part 6: Foundations of Career and Practice Development
This section describes what it takes to get started in a successful massage therapy career—from
envisioning a future practice to making that dream come true. It covers career planning, find-
ing employment, developing a private practice, and the ethics of the business side of massage.
A01_TAPP2691_06_SE_FM.indd 7
 %*#26'4 r *+5614;1(/#55#)'#5#81%#6+10    
(+)74'sChinese barber performing a form of percussion
on a seated patron in China in the 1790s.
(From Picturesque Representations of the Dress and Manners of the
Chinese by Thomas M’Lean, 1814.)
2WDNKE$CVJU
Public bathhouses are community centers for personal
hygiene, grooming services, pleasure and rejuvenation, and
social interaction. They are found all over the world. In the
past, they were sometimes operated by the government, as
in ancient Rome, but most were commercial bathhouses.
Today, massage continues to be an integral part of the pub-
lic bath tradition in its latest form, day and destination spas.
Ancient Greece and Rome, ancient China and Japan,
Medieval Europe, and the Middle East all had public baths.
In times and places where individual homes did not have
indoor plumbing, public baths provided bathing and groom-
ing facilities and services, as well as community gathering
places.
(+)74'sBlind Japanese masseur or ammashi, c.1880.
(From The Art of Massage by Kellogg, 1895.)
    2#46 r 6#22#0o5)7+&'61*'#.+0)/#55#)'
24#%6+%'5'37'0%' s
Full-Body Swedish Massage
Preliminary Instructions
t
Before leaving the client alone to undress in private, request that he or she be covered with the drape and
lying facedown on the table when you return. Explain how the face cradle works.
t
Before the session starts, adjust the position of the face cradle and place a bolster under the ankles.
Recipient prone
Region: Back (15 minutes)
1
2
3
    2#46 r 6#22#0o5)7+&'6152'%+#.#22.+%#6+105
(+)74'sUsing hot stones for specific applications
under the scapula.
(+)74'sA hot stone placed under the client’s neck.
9JGPVQ7UG%QNF5VQPGU
Chilled stones can be used in place of heated stones any-
where in a stone massage application. They can be used in
combination with heated stones, tucked under the abdomen,
or placed along either side of the spine when the client is
supine. But they are primarily used following hot stones on
a focus area. They are extremely effective when used to chill
an area either before or after specific work. The cold stones
draw heat from the body, so they are effective where there is
inflammation or to ease the discomfort of sunburn.
As a consideration to the client, it is important to ver-
bally announce cold stones before you apply to them to
The Roman bath is the prototype public bath in Western
civilization. These bathhouses provided by the state were
built all over the Roman Empire, which extended from
Asia Minor in the East to the British Isles in the west
(27 bce–476 ce). In addition to exercise courts, warm
rooms (tepidarium), steam rooms (caldarium), and a cold
pool (frigidarium), there were spaces for manual therapy.
The providers of the manipulations would have been slaves
or servants to individuals, or possibly slaves or employees of
the state that operated the bath. See Figure 2–3 ■.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, public baths
remained popular in Medieval Europe until the sixteenth
century, when the spread of communicable diseases and
promiscuous behavior made common bathing undesirable.
The Turkish bath, also called a hammam, based on the
Roman prototype, became popular in the Middle East and
reached Europe in the 1800s. After bathing, and perhaps
a haircut and a shave, patrons received a vigorous type of
manipulation from a practitioner called a telltack. It involved
gripping and pressing the muscles, stretching, and crack-
ing the joints.5 The telltack would have learned his trade by
informal apprenticeship and was unlikely to have had any-
thing other than a practical knowledge of human anatomy
learned on the job. The Turkish bath was popular in the cit-
ies of Europe and North America through the first half of
the twentieth century and is still found in the Middle East.
The Chinese bathhouse tradition appears very similar in
nature to those found elsewhere. An example can be seen in a
Chinese film called Shower in English. The film is set in a late
twentieth-century Chinese bathhouse that is slated to be torn
down to make way for modern buildings. Local men come to
the bathhouse to take hot baths and showers, sleep on cots,
listen to music, get their hair and nails trimmed, gossip, play
board games, hold cricket fights, and drink tea—the Chinese
version of the Turkish bath. The bathhouse owner serves as
bath attendant and manual therapy practitioner. A brief scene
shows a patron lying on a bench and the bathhouse owner
applying percussion techniques such as slapping and cupping
with open hands. A little later he resets a patron’s shoulder
that had gone out of joint.6
(+)74'sA Roman bath.
1-hour massage
Figure 14–1 Uncover the back down to the waist.
Stand at the head to apply lubricant to the back using
long effleurage strokes. Cover the entire back and sides
using light to moderate pressure.
Figure 14–2 Without losing contact, move to the
recipient’s right side. Stand at the hip and face the
head. Apply shingles effleurage along the right side of
the spine with fingers pointing toward the head. Use
moderate to deep pressure. Repeat 3–4 times.
Figure 14–3 Apply deep circular friction with the
fingertips to the erector muscles on the right side,
moving from the sacrum to the neck. To apply deeper
pressure, use both hands, placing one hand on top of
the other. Circle away from the spine. Repeat twice.
(+)74'sUsing a hot stone to massage the neck.
(+)74'sUsing hot stones to massage the face.
the client’s body. Ask the client to take a deep breath as
the stone is applied, and to let the breath out immediately
after the stone is applied. Having the client focus on the
breath is a way to draw attention away from the chill of the
stone, and breathing deeply helps the client release muscle
tension caused by the application of the cold stone. The
application of chilled stones is done slowly and gradually,
giving the client time to adjust to the change in temperature.
Cold stones are applied with firm pressure, held in place
momentarily, and then moved slowly around the area until
it is thoroughly chilled.
vii   
11/03/15 6:05 pm
 A Complete Video Library in your Hands
The massage videos provide a dynamic learning tool. They can be viewed at home as a study
tool and review of chapter material; in class to illustrate concepts and spark discussion; or
prior to practicing hands-on skills in technique classes.
Videos may be accessed at www.myhealthprofessionslab.com
• Healing Massage: Wellness and
Workplaces
• History of Massage
• Professionalism
• Emotional Intelligence
• Social and Communication Skills
• Holistic Self-Care Plan
• Foundation of Ethics
• Therapeutic Relationship
• Goal-Oriented Planning
• Documentation
• Hygienic Hand Washing
• Body Mechanics
• Positioning and Draping
• Overview of Swedish Massage
Techniques
• Effleurage
• Petrissage
• Friction
• Tapotement
• Touch without Movement
• Joint Movements
viii   
A01_TAPP2691_06_SE_FM.indd 8
• Full-body Massage: Back
• Full-body Massage: Lower Limbs
and Buttocks
• Full-body Massage: Turning Over
and Lower Limbs
• Full-body Massage: Arms, Shoul-
ders, and Chest
• Full-body Massage: Abdomen
• Full-body Massage: Face and
Head
• Head and Face Massage
• Massage of Neck Region
• Upper Back and Shoulder
Massage
• Low Back Massage
• Massage for Upper Extremities
• Chest and Abdominal Massage
• Hip and Buttocks Massage
• Thigh and Lower Leg Massage
• Foot Massage
• Hot Application on Upper Back
• Cold Application for Knee
• Ice Massage for Elbow
• Postevent Sports Massage
• Pregnancy Massage
• Infant Massage
• Massage for the Elderly
• Gentle Hand and Arm Massage
• Seated Massage
• Myofascial Massage
• Trigger Point Therapy
• Lymphatic Facilitation for the
Head and Neck
• Lymphatic Facilitation for the
Lower Extremity
• Reflexology
• AMI for the Back
• AMI for Anterior Arm
• AMI for Neck–Head–Face
• Qi Gong for Self Care
• General Session of Polarity
Therapy
• Career Plans and Employment
• Private Practice and Finances
• Business Ethics
11/03/15 6:05 pm
 The ultimate personalized learning tool is available at MyHealthProfessionsLab.com. This
online course correlates with the textbook and is available for purchase separately or for
a discount when packaged with the book. MyHealthProfessionsLab is an immersive study
experience that reinforces concepts learned within the text through, quizzes, videos, and
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MyHealthProfessionsLab saves instructors time by providing quality feedback, ongoing
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Visit MyHealthProfessionsLab.com to log in to the course or purchase access. Instructors
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Comprehensive Instructional Package

Perhaps the most gratifying part of an educator’s work is the “aha” learning moment when
the light bulb goes off and a student truly understands a concept—when a connection is
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ix   

A01_TAPP2691_06_SE_FM.indd 9 11/03/15 6:05 pm

 Online Resources at your Fingertips
No massage therapy textbook has as extensive a selection of web-based resources as
Tappan’s Handbook of Massage Therapy.

Instructor Resource Center

All instructional ancillary resources are available online for instant download by educators
at www.pearsonhighered.com. Here instructors will find an instructor’s manual, PowerPoint
lecture slides, an electronic test bank, and an image library.

CourseSmart e-text
We realize that massage therapy students are conscious about avoiding placing undue
strain on their bodies. We also know that students are often on tight budgets. Introducing
CourseSmart, a value-priced e-text option that relieves the stress of carrying an extra book.
Students can download this textbook for a reduced price at www.coursesmart.com and
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• Instant access
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• Highlighting and printing capabilities

CourseSmart is a “green” solution that literally saves tons of paper every year. Pearson is
proud of this initiative as a measure of our commitment to the environment.

Tools to Help Instructors Shine

Tappan’s Handbook of Massage Therapy offers a rich array of ancillary materials to benefit
instructors and help infuse a spark in the classroom. The full complement of supplemental
teaching materials is available online to all qualified instructors from your Pearson repre-
sentative.

Instructor’s Resource Manual

This manual contains a wealth of material to help faculty plan and manage
their courses. It includes: Tappan’s
Benjamin

• Comprehensive lecture notes that contain abstracts, factoids, and teach-

Pearson’s MyHealthProfessionsLab ™
Handbook of
Tappan’s Handbook of Massage Therapy

ing strategies. Register now at http://www.myhealthprofessionslab.com

PROVEN RESULTS
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• A wealth of worksheets and handouts. For over 10 years, instructors and students
using a MyLab from Pearson have reported better
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Blending Art with Science
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Image Library
Every photograph and illustration contained in the textbook.
x   

A01_TAPP2691_06_SE_FM.indd 10 11/03/15 6:05 pm

 A Word about BOARD Certification
Through our Vue division, Pearson is pleased to provide a variety of massage therapy certi-
fication and licensing exams. While this book is not directly correlated to these exams, it can
serve as a useful study reference. Visit http://www.vue.com/fsmtb/ or http://www.vue.com/
ncbtmb/ for information.

To help prepare you for any of these important certification exams, you may wish to pur-
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xi   

A01_TAPP2691_06_SE_FM.indd 11 11/03/15 6:05 pm

 Acknowledgments

How can one even begin to acknowledge all those who have contributed to Tappan’s Handbook
of Massage Therapy: Blending Art with Science? Producing a comprehensive textbook like this
involves many people both known and unknown to the primary author. Everyone who touched
this project in any way has my gratitude for their efforts. A few who stand out will be acknowl-
edged here.
First is Frances M. Tappan (1917–1999), who many years ago invited me to join her on the
adventure of writing massage therapy textbooks. She provided the spark that started me on the
journey that has led to this point.
Thanks to all those who contributed to Pearson’s Massage Therapy, Tappan’s Handbook
of Healing Massage Techniques, and Professional Foundations for Massage Therapists. These
three textbooks laid the groundwork for Tappan’s Handbook of Massage Therapy.
Various people have lent their expertise and knowledge and provided a depth of under-
standing and accuracy that would otherwise be missing from this text. They include Beverly
Shoenberger, Polarity Therapy; Will Parks, Acupressure Massage Integration; Xie Ling Welch,
Qi Gong; Christopher Alvarado, Myofascial Massage; Dale Perry, Lymphatic Facilitation; Paula
Stone, Reflexology; and Ann L. Mihina and Sandra K. Anderson, Spa Applications.
Massage therapists who appear in the video massage segments include Christopher
Alvarado, Bobbe Bermann, Danielle Bianchi, Annette Chamness, Larry Clemmons, Maria D.
Cooper, Wayne Hussey, Connie Love, John Magruder, Will Parks, Dale Perry, Xie Ling Welch,
and Patricia Vater, who coordinated the demonstrations. Other massage therapists appearing
in the videos include Joli Behr-Cook, Jennifer van Dam, Caleb Edmond, Julie Favaro, and Jeff
Mann. Appearing in recently updated illustrations are Maria D. Cooper, Andrea Black, and
Nathan Bell.
Reviewers who made thoughtful criticisms and suggestions on draft pages have added
greatly to the quality and relevance of the book. This includes official reviewers as well as
colleagues who offered their opinions on different aspects of this text. It is a better book because
of your comments.
Thanks to the production staff at Pearson—especially John Goucher, Executive Editor,
Health Professions, and to Development Editor, Lynda Hatch, who has kept me more or less on
schedule and who improved the text in so many ways.
Last, but not least, I want to acknowledge the support and encouragement of family and
friends. Special appreciation is reserved for Martha Fourt who stepped up whenever I needed a
model, photographer, editor, gofer, or any other task—usually on short notice.
Thanks to all.

Patricia J. Benjamin

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 About the Author

Patricia J. Benjamin, PhD, LMT, is a massage therapist, educator, author, and

appreciative massage and bodywork client. She has a deep respect for massage
therapy as an art, science, and wellness practice. She has studied its traditions and
watches for trends in the massage therapy profession today.
Building on her earlier background in sports and fitness, Dr. Benjamin gradu-
ated from the Chicago School of Massage Therapy in the mid-1980s. She was drawn
to massage as an active, hands-on therapy whose foundations dovetail with her for-
mer career in health, physical education, and recreation. After having a full-time
massage therapy practice, she gravitated back to education, first as an association
education director, and then as a teacher and massage school administrator. Over the
years, she has served on various committees involved in the development of ethical
standards and national certification for massage therapists, and the accreditation of
massage programs.
Dr. Benjamin has taught at the high school and college levels and enjoys devel-
oping curriculum materials for the career-oriented courses offered in vocational
programs. She holds master’s and advanced study degrees in education with a spe-
cialty in curriculum development from Northern Illinois University. A doctorate in recreation
and leisure studies from Purdue University has deepened her appreciation of the many facets of
wellness and grounded her in a variety of research methods.
Frances Tappan approached Pat Benjamin to join her as coauthor of Healing Massage
Techniques for its 3rd edition (1998). After Dr. Tappan’s passing in 1999, Dr. Benjamin contin-
ued to update and improve Tappan’s Handbook of Healing Massage Techniques (2010), which
remains a standard in the field. Dr. Benjamin authored Professional Foundations for Massage
Therapists (2009) to address related professional competencies and combined that information
with basic massage skills and applications in Pearson’s Massage Therapy: Blending Art with
Science (2011). This latest edition of Tappan’s Handbook combines all three of its predecessors
for the most comprehensive and up-to-date presentation of the theory and practice of massage
therapy available today. Tappan’s Handbook of Massage Therapy: Blending Art and Science,
sixth edition, remains true to Frances Tappan’s vision of healing massage as holistic manual
therapy that contributes to the well-being of humanity in so many ways.
In her leisure time, Dr. Benjamin enjoys reading historical fiction and nonfiction, gardening,
tai chi and qi gong, and table tennis. Her outdoor pursuits include hiking, canoeing, and birding.
She currently resides in Chicago, Illinois.

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 Our Development Team

The fresh and unique vision, format, and content contained within the pages of Tappan’s
Handbook of Massage Therapy: Blending Art with Science comes as a result of an incredible
collaboration of expert educators from all around. This book represents the collective insights,
experience, and thousands of hours of work performed by members of this development team.
Their influence will continue to have an impact for decades to come. Let us introduce the
­members of our team.

Contributors

Text Video
Ann L. Mihina—Spa Applications, Christopher Alvarado
Tucson, AZ Joli Behr-Cook
Sandra K. Anderson—Spa Applications, Dr. S. C. Benanti
Tucson, AZ Bobbe Berman
Chapter 19, Spa Treatments, is adapted from their Danielle Bianchi
book, Natural Spa and Hydrotherapy (2009). Annette Chamness
Christopher Alvarado—Myofascial Massage Larry Clemmons
Licensed Massage Therapist Maria D. Cooper
Evanston, Illinois Cheryl Coutts
Will Parks—Acupressure Massage Integration Christopher Coutts
Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy Jennifer van Dam
Newington, Connecticut Selene DelValle
Dale Perry—Lymphatic Facilitation Caleb Edmond
Center for Natural Wellness School of Massage Julie Favaro
Therapy Wayne Hussey
Albany, New York Theresa Cecylija Leszczynski
Beverly Shoenberger—Polarity Therapy Connie Love
Psychotherapist and Physical Therapist John Magruder
Malibu, California Jeff Mann
Paula Stone—Reflexology Abby Nickerson
The Stone Institute Will Parks
St. Charles, Missouri Dale Perry
Chapter 24, Reflexology, is adapted from her book, Patricia Vater
Therapeutic Reflexology (2011). Xie Ling Welch

xiv   

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  Our Development Team    xv

Reviewers

William G. Connell, MA, LMT Sheri Manthei, NBCMTB, LMT, MS-IDT, BBA, AAS
John A. Logan College MSG, AAS
Carterville, IL Baker College
Jodi Gootkin, PT, MEd Allen Park, MI
Edison State College Vajra Matusow, MA, CMT, CHT
Fort Myers, FL Diamond Light School of Massage and Healing Arts
Carol Gott, BS, CMT San Anselmo, CA
Ivy Tech Community College David Merlino, LMT, NCETM
Evansville, IL Milan Institute
Karen Hobson, MS, LMT Sparks, NV
Miller Motte College Marek Sawicki, BA, CAyur, LMBT, eRYT 500
Greenville, NC AB Tech Community College
Dr. Steven Koehler, ND, LMBT Weaverville, NC
Lenoir Community College Kathleen Wellman, CPA, LMT
Kinston, NC Moraine Valley Community College
Walter Lopez, LMT New Lenox, IL
Milan Institute
Las Vegas, NV

A01_TAPP2691_06_SE_FM.indd 15 11/03/15 6:05 pm

 A Commitment to Accuracy

As a student embarking in health care you probably already know how critically important it is
to be precise in your work. Clients and coworkers will be counting on you to avoid errors on a
daily basis. Likewise, we owe it to you—the reader—to ensure accuracy in this book. We have
gone to great lengths to verify that the information provided in Tappan’s Handbook of Massage
Therapy: Blending Art with Science is complete and correct.
To this end, here are the steps we have taken:
1. Editorial Review No fewer than 12 content experts have read each chapter for accuracy. In
addition, some members of our developmental team were specifically assigned to focus on
the precision of each illustration that appears in the book.
2. Accurate Ancillaries The teaching and learning ancillaries are often as important to instruc-
tion as the textbook itself. Therefore, we took steps to ensure accuracy and consistency of
these components by reviewing every ancillary component. The author and editorial team
studied every PowerPoint slide and online course frame to ensure the context was correct
and relevant to each lesson.
Although our intent and actions have been directed at creating an error-free text, we have
established a process for correcting any mistakes that may have slipped past our editors. Pearson
takes this issue seriously and therefore welcomes any and all feedback that you can provide along
the lines of helping us enhance the accuracy of this text. If you identify any errors that need to be
corrected in a subsequent printing, please send them to:
Pearson Health Editorial
Massage Therapy Corrections
221 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030
Thank you for helping Pearson reach its goal of providing the most accurate textbooks available.

xvi   

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 Massage Practice Sequences

Find the Practice Sequences in the text and on video at MyHealthProfessionsLab.com.

Practice Sequence 10-1 Practice Sequence 18-2

Hygienic Hand Washing Pregnancy Massage in Side-Lying Position

Practice Sequence 14-1 Practice Sequence 18-3

Full-Body Swedish Massage Infant Massage

Practice Sequence 15-1 Practice Sequence 18-4

Head and Face Massage Massage for the Elderly in a Semireclining Position

Practice Sequence 15-2 Practice Sequence 18-5

Massage of the Neck Region Gentle Hand and Arm Massage

Practice Sequence 15-3 Practice Sequence 20-1

Upper Back and Shoulder Massage Seated Massage

Practice Sequence 15-4 Practice Sequence 21-1

Low Back Massage Myofascial Massage of the Back

Practice Sequence 15-5 Practice Sequence 22-1

Massage of the Upper Extremities Trigger Point Therapy for Tension Headaches

Practice Sequence 15-6 Practice Sequence 23-1

Chest and Abdominal Massage Lymphatic Facilitation for the Head and Neck

Practice Sequence 16-1 Practice Sequence 23-2

Hip and Buttocks Massage Lymphatic Facilitation for the Lower Extremity

Practice Sequence 16-2 Practice Sequence 24-1

Thigh and Lower Leg Massage General Reflexology Session

Practice Sequence 16-3 Practice Sequence 25-1

Foot Massage AMI for the Back

Practice Sequence 17-1 Practice Sequence 25-2

Hot Application on Upper Back AMI for the Anterior Arm

Practice Sequence 17-2 Practice Sequence 25-3

Cold Application for Knee AMI for the Neck-Head-Face

Practice Sequence 17-3 Practice Sequence 25-4

Ice Massage for Elbow General Session of Polarity Therapy

Practice Sequence 18-1

Postevent Sports Massage for Run/Walk Event
xvii   

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 Contents

Welcome! iii Chapter 2 History of Massage as a Vocation 25

Acknowledgments xii
Learning Outcomes 25
About the Author xiii
Key Terms 25
Our Development Team xiv
History of a Vocation 26
A Commitment to Accuracy xvi
Personal Grooming and Rejuvenation 26
Massage Practice Sequences xvii
Public Baths 27
Fast Track to Success xxvi
Salons and Spas 28
Sports and Fitness 29
Part 1 Foundations for Massage Rubbers and Athletic Masseurs 29
Therapy Professionals 1 Fitness/Health Service Operators and Expert
Masseuses 30
Chapter 1 Massage Therapy Profession 2 Health Care 31
Learning Outcomes 2 Western Medicine 32
Key Terms 2 Natural Healing and Drugless Doctors 36
The Journey 3 Massage in the Natural Healing Tradition 36
Massage Defined 3 Massage Therapy Revived in the United States 37
Wellness Profession 3 Massage Therapists and Bodyworkers 38
Trends 4 Unified Profession 40
Typical Work Settings 6 Chapter Highlights 41
Personal Care 6 Exam Review 42
Sports, Fitness, and Recreation 6
Health Care 7
Private Practice 8
Becoming a Massage Therapy Professional 8 Chapter 3 Professional and Personal
Body of Knowledge and Skills 10 Development 45
Education 10 Learning Outcomes 45
Continuing Education 11 Key Terms 45
Credentials 12 Professionalism in Massage Therapy 46
School Diploma 12 Service 46
Board Certification 12 Work Ethic 46
Specialty Certification 12 Professional Image 46
Occupational Licensing 13 Dress 47
Organizations 14 Grooming 48
Professional Associations 14 Posture 48
Member Services Organizations 15 Image Detractors 48
Specialty Associations 16 Professional Boundaries 48
Scholarship and Publications 16 Ethics for the Massage Student 49
Research 17 Intellectual Skills 50
Ethical Standards 17 Higher-Level Thinking 51
Recognition by the Public and Health Concentration 52
Professionals 17 Intuition 53
Recognition from Other Professionals 18 Emotional Intelligence 53
Chapter Highlights 19 Self-Awareness 54
Exam Review 21 Managing Emotions 54
xviii   

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 CONTENTS    xix

Motivating Yourself 55 Ethics and Law 95

Recognizing Emotions in Others 55 Ethical Decision Making 96
Handling Relationships 55 Ethical Questions and Dilemmas 96
Social Skills 55 The Ethical Decision-Making Model 96
Courtesy and Good Manners 56 Development of Ethical Judgment 98
First Impressions 56 The Therapeutic Relationship 99
Greeting a First-Time Client 56 Transference and Countertransference 100
Introductions 57 Defense Mechanisms 100
Conflict Resolution 57 Roles and Boundaries 101
Communication Skills 59 Dual Relationships 102
Verbal Skills 59 Evaluating Dual Relationships 102
Body Language 60 Sexual Relationships 103
Listening 62 Sexual Misconduct 104
Presentations 63 Informed Voluntary Consent 105
Written Communication 64 Sexual Misconduct by a Client 106
Chapter Highlights 67 Intervention Model 106
Exam Review 69 Relationships in School 107
Scope of Practice 108
Staying in Bounds 109
Chapter 4 Physical Skills, Fitness, Self-Care
Education and Home Care 110
for the Massage Therapist 73 Confidentiality 111
Learning Outcomes 73 Chapter Highlights 112
Key Terms 73 Exam Review 114
The Physical Side of Massage 74
Body Awareness 74
Skilled Touch 75 Part 2 Foundations of Planning
Contact 75 and Giving Massage
Qualities of Touch 76
Communication 76
Sessions 119
Palpation 76
Chapter 6 Effects of Massage and Research
Physical Fitness 76
Cardiovascular Fitness 76 Literacy 120
Muscular Strength and Endurance 77 Learning Outcomes 120
Flexibility 77 Key Terms 120
Body Composition 80 Effects of Massage Overview 121
Self-Care Practices 80 Massage Techniques and Effects 121
Body–Mind Practices 80 Time, Dose, and Effects 121
Stress-Control Strategies 82 Holistic View of Effects 121
Time Management 82 Knowledge of Effects 124
Nutrition 84 Research 124
Holistic Self-Care Plan 86 Research Literacy 125
Chapter Highlights 87 Scientific Method 125
Exam Review 88 Levels of Evidence 125
Locating Research Studies 127
Reading Research Reports 127
Chapter 5 Ethics and the Therapeutic A Closer Look at the Effects of Massage 129
Relationship 91 Physiological Effects—Tissue level 129
Learning Outcomes 91 Tissue Repair 129
Key Terms 91 Connective Tissue 130
Overview 92 Physiological Effects—Organ System Level 131
Nature of Ethics 92 Integumentary System 131
Values, Rights, and Duties 92 Skeletal System 132
Values 92 Muscular System 132
Rights 93 Nervous and Endocrine Systems 135
Duties 93 Cardiovascular System 136
Vulnerability to Unethical Behavior 94 Lymphatic System and Immunity 138
Ethical Codes and Standards 94 Respiratory System 139

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 xx    CONTENTS

Digestive System 139 Vertebral Column 167

Urinary System 139 Thoracic Cage 169
Reproductive System 140 Shoulder and Axilla 169
Physiological Effects—Organism Level 140 Elbow and Wrist 169
Growth and Development 140 Torso 169
Pain Reduction 140 Inguinal Area 171
Stress Reduction 141 Popliteal Area 171
Psychological Effects 141 Major Veins in Extremities 171
Mental Clarity 142 General Principles for Safety Around Endangerment
Reduced Anxiety and Depression 142 Sites 173
Character Armor and Emotional Release 142 Contraindications 173
Feelings of General Well-Being 143 Principles for Contraindications and Cautions 173
Limbic System 143 Medications 178
Mechanisms of Massage 144 Person-Centered Massage 182
Mechanical Effects 144 Resources for Reliable Information 183
Physiological Effects 144 Chapter Highlights 184
Reflex Effects 144 Exam Review 185
Body–Mind Effects 144
Energetic Effects 145
Chapter 9 Medical Terminology, Goal-Oriented
Benefits of Wellness Massage 145
Chapter Highlights 145 Planning, Documentation 188
Exam Review 147 Learning Outcomes 188
Key Terms 188
Chapter 7 Clinical Applications of Massage 151 Medical Terminology 189
Prefixes 189
Learning Outcomes 151 Word Roots/Combining Forms 191
Key Terms 151 Suffixes 191
Clinical Massage Therapy 152 Singular and Plural Endings 191
Evidence-Based Practice 152 Abbreviations and Symbols 195
Client-Centered Massage 153 The Importance of Planning 197
Therapeutic Outcomes 153 Goal-Oriented Planning 197
Musculoskeletal Applications 154 Steps in Goal-Oriented Planning 198
Fibromyalgia Syndrome 154 Long-Term Planning 199
Cardiovascular and Lymphatic Applications 156 Individual Session Planning 200
Edema and Lymphedema 156 Treatment Planning 201
Immune Function 156 Collecting Subjective Information 202
Respiratory Applications 156 Health/Medical History 202
Back Massage for Hospitalized Patients 157 Intake Interview 203
Massage for Cancer Patients 157 Collecting Objective Information 205
Pediatric Applications 158 General Observations 205
Preterm Infants 158 Palpation 205
Additional Pediatric Applications 159 Range of Motion Evaluation 206
Psychological Clinical Applications 160 Posture Analysis 208
Therapeutic Touch 160 Biomechanical Analysis 210
Complement to Chiropractic Care 161 Gait Analysis 211
Case Reports 161 Orthopedic Tests 211
Chapter Highlights 162 Importance of Documentation 212
Exam Review 163 Soap Note Overview 212
SOAP Note Format 213
Chapter 8 Endangerment Sites, SOAP Note Content 213
Contraindications, Cautions 166 Writing Soap Notes 214
Learning Outcomes 166 Guidelines for Writing SOAP Notes 214
Key Terms 166 Simplified Documentation 216
Do No Harm 167 Designing a System of Documentation 217
Endangerment Sites 167 Legal and Ethical Issues 219
Head and Face 167 Chapter Highlights 221
Anterior Neck 167 Exam Review 222

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 CONTENTS    xxi

Chapter 10 Hygiene, Equipment, Environment 226 Sequence of Techniques and Routines 261
Learning Outcomes 226 Specificity and Direction 261
Key Terms 226 Pressure, Rhythm, and Pacing 261
Introduction 227 Chapter Highlights 263
Personal Hygiene and Hand Washing 227 Exam Review 264
Personal Hygiene 227
Hand Washing 227
Massage Equipment 230 Part 3 Tappan’s Guide to Healing
Massage Tables 230 Massage 267
Massage Chairs 231
Equipment Setup and Care 233 Chapter 12 Swedish Massage Techniques 268
Alternatives to Tables and Chairs 233
Supplies for Massage 233 Learning Outcomes 268
Bolsters and Pillows 233 Key Terms 268
Sheets, Blankets, and Towels 235 Swedish Massage Overview 269
Topical Substances 236 Swedish Massage Techniques 269
Uses of Different Topical Substances 236 Effleurage 270
Sanitation and Topical Substances 237 Variations of Effleurage 270
Physical Environment for Massage 237 Petrissage 274
Room Setup 237 Variations of Petrissage 274
Floors, Walls, and Windows 237 Friction 277
Lighting and Color 238 Variations of Friction 277
Temperature, Humidity, and Fresh Air 238 Friction Used in Rehabilitation 279
Music and Sound 238 Tapotement 279
Safety 238 Variations of Tapotement 280
Maintenance Schedule 239 Vibration 282
Infection Control 239 Variations of Vibration 282
Universal Precautions 239 Touch Without Movement 283
MRSA 240 Passive Touch 283
Chapter Highlights 240 Direct Pressure 284
Exam Review 242 Chapter Highlights 285
Exam Review 286

Chapter 11 Body Mechanics, Table Skills, General Chapter 13 Joint Movements 290
Guidelines 245 Learning Outcomes 290
Learning Outcomes 245 Key Terms 290
Key Terms 245 Overview of Joint Movement 291
Principles of Hand and Body Mechanics 246 Categories of Movements 291
Preventing Injury and Overuse 246 Joint Movement Techniques 291
Hand and Wrist Care 246 Methods of Stretching 292
Hand Mechanics for Different Techniques 247 Safety 292
Body Mechanics for Table Massage 248 Cautions and Contraindications 294
Body Mechanics for Seated/Chair Massage 251 General Guidelines for Joint Movement Techniques 295
Table Skills 253 Regional Applications of Joint Movements 295
Assistance Getting Onto and Off of the Table 253 Neck 295
Assistance Turning Over 254 Shoulder Girdle 297
Positioning 254 Elbow 298
Supine 254 Wrist 299
Prone 254 Hand 299
Face Cradle Adjustment 254 Chest 300
Side-Lying and Semireclining 255 Hip 301
Seated 256 Knee 303
Draping 256 Ankle 303
General Guidelines for Massage 258 Foot 304
Length of Sessions 258 Chapter Highlights 306
Amount of Lubricant 260 Exam Review 307

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 xxii    CONTENTS

Chapter 14 Full-Body Swedish Massage 310 Chapter 17 Hydrotherapy and Temperature

Learning Outcomes 310 Therapies 400
Key Terms 310 Learning Outcomes 400
Overview 311 Key Terms 400
Guidelines for Full-Body Swedish Massage 311 Introduction 401
Draping 312 History of Hydrotherapy 401
Sequence of Body Regions 312 The Water Cure 401
Order of Techniques 312 Hydrotherapy versus Hydropathy 401
Continuity and Flow 312 Healing Properties of Water 402
Rhythm, Pacing, Specificity, Pressure 313 Hydrotherapy Facilities 403
Full-Body Swedish Massage Practice Sequence 313 Hot Applications 405
Chapter Highlights 336 Hot Packs and Massage 405
Exam Review 336 Cold Applications 409
Cold Packs and Massage 410
Chapter 15 Regional Massage Applications— Ice Massage 412
Upper Body 339 Chapter Highlights 414
Exam Review 415
Learning Outcomes 339
Key Terms 339
Regional Massage 340
Interconnections and Meaning 340 Part 4 Tappan’s Guide to Special
Regional Practice Sequences 340 Applications 419
Head and Face 340
Anatomy of the Head and Face 341 Chapter 18 Special Populations and
Applications of Massage for the Head and Face 341 Adaptations 420
Neck 347
Learning Outcomes 420
Anatomy of the Neck 347
Key Terms 420
Applications of Massage for the Neck 348
Introduction 421
Back 353
Athletes 421
Anatomy of the Back 353
Techniques and Knowledge 421
Applications of Massage for the Back 354
Recovery 422
Upper Extremities 359
Remedial Massage and Rehabilitation 422
Anatomy of the Upper Extremities 359
Maintenance 422
Applications of Massage for the Upper Extremities 361
Events 422
Chest and Abdomen 367
Pregnant Women 429
Anatomy of the Chest and Abdomen 367
Contraindications 429
Applications of Massage for the Chest and
Pregnancy Massage Application 430
Abdomen 367
Labor, Delivery, and Recovery 435
Chapter Highlights 372
Women with Infants and Toddlers 436
Exam Review 373
Infants 436
Infant Massage Application 436
Chapter 16 Regional Massage Applications— The Elderly 441
Lower Body 376 Physiological Age 442
Learning Outcomes 376 Positioning Options for the Elderly 442
Key Terms 376 Guidelines for Massage of Older Adults 443
Regional Massage of the Lower Body 377 Cautions and Adaptations 444
Hips and Buttocks 377 Massage in Semireclining Position 444
Anatomy of the Hips and Buttocks 377 The Terminally Ill 451
Applications of Massage for the Hips and Adaptations for the Terminally Ill 452
Buttocks 378 Self-Care 456
Lower Extremities 383 Impairments and Disabilities 456
Anatomy of the Lower Extremities 383 Visual Impairment 456
Applications of Massage for the Lower Hearing Impairment 457
Extremities 386 Speech Impairment 457
Chapter Highlights 397 Size Issues—Large and Small 457
Exam Review 397 Mobility Challenges 458

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 CONTENTS    xxiii

Amputees and Prostheses 459 In the Workplace 498

Internal and External Medical Devices 460 Popularity of Seated Massage 498
Pacemakers and Defibrillators 460 Body and Hand Mechanics 498
Colostomy Bag 460 Screening for Seated Massage 498
Rewards and Challenges 461 Positioning for Seated Massage 499
Chapter Highlights 461 Seated Massage Sessions 500
Exam Review 462 Preparing for Different Venues 505
Chapter Highlights 506
Exam Review 507
Chapter 19 Spa Treatments 465
Learning Outcomes 465
Key Terms 465
Overview 466
Part 5 Tappan’s Guide to
Equipment and Supplies 466 Contemporary Massage
Equipment 466 and Bodywork 511
Supplies 466
Sanitation 467 Chapter 21 Myofascial Massage 512
Helping Clients Choose Spa Treatments 467
Learning Outcomes 512
Practitioner’s Role 467
Key Terms 512
Health and Medical Considerations 468
Myofascial Massage Overview 513
Other Considerations 468
History of Myofascial Massage 513
Exfoliation 469
Fascia and Fascial Anatomy 513
Methods of Exfoliation 469
Depths of Fascia 513
Manual Exfoliation 469
Fascial Structures 514
Preparing for a Scrub Treatment 472
Guidelines for Myofascial Applications 515
Performing a Scrub Treatment 473
Contraindications 515
Chemical Exfoliation 474
Basic Myofascial Techniques 516
Body Wraps 475
Skin Lifting Techniques 516
Muds and Clays 475
Fascial Stretching Techniques 516
Peat 476
Fascial Mobilizations 517
Moor Mud 476
Myofascial Massage Techniques on the Back 518
Seaweed and Sea Mud 477
Chapter Highlights 522
Preparing for a Body Wrap Treatment 477
Exam Review 523
Performing a Body Wrap Treatment 478
Herbal Wraps 481
Aromatherapy 481 Chapter 22 Trigger Point Therapy 526
Essential Oils 482
How Essential Oils Work 482 Learning Outcomes 526
Classification by Notes 484 Key Terms 526
Ten Foundational Essential Oils 484 Trigger Point Therapy Overview 527
Using Essential Oils in a Spa or Massage Therapy History of Trigger Point Therapy 527
Practice 487 Trigger Points 527
Stone Massage 488 Origin of TrPs 528
Preparing for Stone Massage 488 Referral Patterns 528
Performing Hot Stone Massage 489 Locating Trigger Points 529
When to Use Cold Stones 490 Palpation of TrPs 530
Chapter Highlights 491 Deactivation Techniques 530
Exam Review 492 Direct Pressure Techniques 530
Trigger Point Therapy for Tension
Headaches 532
Chapter 20 Seated Massage 496 Chapter Highlights 535
Learning Outcomes 496 Exam Review 536
Key Terms 496
Seated Massage Overview 497
History of Seated Massage 497 Chapter 23 Lymphatic Facilitation 539
Benefits of Seated Massage 497 Learning Outcomes 539
Public Places and Events 497 Key Terms 539

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 xxiv    CONTENTS

Overview of Lymphatic Facilitation 540 Chapter 25 Asian and Energy-Based Bodywork 576
History of Lymphatic Massage 540 Learning Outcomes 576
Lymphatic Facilitation Compared to Manual Key Terms 576
Lymphatic Drainage 540 Energy-Based Bodywork 577
The Lymphatic System 540 Eastern Bodywork Forms 577
Homeostasis 540 Traditional Chinese Medicine Overview 577
Lymph 541 Yin and Yang 577
Interstitial Matrix 542 Qi 578
Lymphatic System Vessels 542 The Five Elements 578
Initial/Terminal (I/T) Lymph Vessels 542 Energy Channels 580
Collector Vessels 543 Acupoints 580
Transport Vessels 543 Assessment and Treatment in Traditional Chinese
Cisterna Chyli 543 Medicine 583
Terminus 543 Acupressure Massage Integration 584
Lymph Nodes 544 Basic AMI Approach 585
General Drainage Patterns 544 Principles for Applying Pressure to Acupoints 585
Indications and Contraindications 544 AMI Practice Sequences for the Back, Arm,
Contraindications 544 and Neck–Head–Face 585
Lymphatic Facilitation Attributes and Strokes 545 Qi Gong 607
L Stroke and Long Stroke 546 Qi Gong Forms 607
Lymphatic Facilitation Applications 547 Ayurveda 607
Integration of Lymphatic Facilitation into a Massage Ayurvedic Health Practices 608
Session 553 The Physical Body—Koshas, Doshas, and
Chapter Highlights 554 Chakras 609
Exam Review 555 Marma Points 611
Ayurvedic Massage 611
Chapter 24 Reflexology 558 Varieties of Ayurvedic Massage 612
Massage Oils 613
Learning Outcomes 558
Massage Applications 613
Key Terms 558
Hatha Yoga 614
Overview 559
Thai Massage 614
History of Reflexology 559
Polarity Therapy 615
Ancient Roots 559
Polarity Therapy Theory 615
Reflexology in Europe 559
Principles of Polarity Therapy 618
Reflexology in America 561
Basic Polarity Movements 619
Modern Professional Reflexology 561
Notes on the Practice Sequence 625
Zone Therapy and Guidelines 561
Some Final Thoughts on Polarity Therapy 625
Theories about Reflexology 562
Chapter Highlights 626
Reflexology Research and Application 563
Exam Review 628
Sensation During and after Reflexology 563
Possible Reasons for Tenderness
and Pain 563
After the Reflexology Session 564 Part 6 Foundations of Career
Positioning the Receiver 564 and Practice
Body Mechanics 564
Reflexology Techniques 564 Development 631
Walk and Roll 565
Hook-and-Backup 565 Chapter 26 Career Plans and Employment 632
Press-and-Flex 565 Learning Outcomes 632
Direct Pressure and Friction 565 Key Terms 632
Dorsal Fulling 566 Follow Your Dream 633
Joint Movements 566 Vision 633
Adjuncts to Reflexology 566 Part-Time or Full-Time Work 633
Reflexology Session 567 Employment or Private Practice 633
Chapter Highlights 572 Mission Statement 636
Exam Review 573 Income Goal 636

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 CONTENTS    xxv

Identity 637 Chapter 28 Business Ethics 667

Business Name and Logo 637 Learning Outcomes 667
Credentials 637 Key Terms 667
Résumé 638 Business Ethics 668
Business Cards and Stationery 639 Local and State Regulations 668
Brochures and Websites 640 Advertising 669
Getting Employment 640 Professional Image 669
Successful Job Interviews 641 Guarantees and Endorsements 670
Chapter Highlights 643 Prices and Bait Advertising 671
Exam Review 644 Claims for Massage Therapy 671
Copyrights, Trademarks, and Patents 672
Chapter 27 Private Practice and Finances 647 Fees and Pricing 673
Tips and Gifts 673
Learning Outcomes 647
Selling Products 674
Key Terms 647
Referrals 675
Private Practice 648
Client Base 675
Business Plan Overview 648
Defamation 676
Description of the Business 648
Safety and Welfare of Clients 677
Legal Structure 648
Reporting Unethical Behavior 677
Location 648
Beyond Graduation—An Invitation 678
Marketing 649
Chapter Highlights 678
Market Research 650
Exam Review 679
Building a Client Base 650
Advertising and Promotions 650
Management 651
Licenses and Insurance 652 Appendices
Contracts 652
Practice Policies 653 A Organizations and Publications A-1
Massage Practice Office Space 654
B Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice for Massage
Appointments 654
Client Records 655 Therapists A-3
Finances 655 C Goal-Oriented Planning A-8
Startup Costs 656
D Performance Evaluation Forms A-10
First-Year Budget 656
Income Taxes 657 E References and Additional Resources A-54
Bookkeeping 660
Banking 660
Health Insurance Billing and Reimbursement 661 Interactive Glossary G-1
Standardized Forms and Billing Codes 662 Index I-1
Chapter Highlights 663
Exam Review 664

A01_TAPP2691_06_SE_FM.indd 25 11/03/15 6:05 pm

 Fast Track to Success
Before you begin, we encourage you to read this brief sec-
tion to help you get off to a great start in your studies and
test-taking.
Study Tips
Knowing your own learning style is a key to success in
school. Are you primarily a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic
learner? Do you learn best alone or in a study group? Do
you study better in the morning or at night? Do you have a
learning disability, and if so, have you gotten help to learn
compensation techniques? Develop a learning strategy that
works best for you, and take responsibility for using it in
school and beyond.
Big Picture versus Details
Research indicates that learners fall into two camps: “right-
brained” learners who process information by focusing on
the big picture and relationships between ideas, and “left-
brained” learners who process information in a sequential
step-by-step fashion focusing on details. Each style of
learning has strengths and drawbacks. For example, right-
brain learners can miss important details, whereas left-brain
learners may get so bogged down in details that they miss
the big picture. Be aware of your natural style, but incorpo-
rate methods that help you get both the big picture as well
as the details.
Better Study Habits
Here are some simple things you can do to improve your
study habits:
• Understand the learning outcomes for a class, and
keep your attention on material that helps you achieve
them. Be selective and focused.
• Read assigned material before a lecture so that you are
not hearing about the subject for the first time in class.
The lecture will sink in more deeply if you are already
somewhat familiar with terminology and concepts pre-
sented. You will be less likely to get lost in class.
xxvi   
A01_TAPP2691_06_SE_FM.indd 26
• Underline, highlight, and write in the margins of read-
ing material to identify important terms and concepts.
Be selective in finding the most important ideas. Mark
passages directly related to topics from classes. Don’t
highlight too much.
• Pick out key terms, and write out their definitions.
Identify related concepts and subtopics.
• Become familiar with the features in your textbooks.
The table of contents, figures, tables, appendix, glos-
sary, and index provide valuable information and help
you find what you are looking for more quickly.
• Within 24 hours after a class, review and rewrite your
class notes. Write summaries of major topics in your
own words, noting where ideas covered in class are
found in your textbooks.
• If you learn best by hearing (auditory learner), ask
permission to tape lectures so that you are not dis-
tracted from what the teacher is saying by taking
notes. Replay the tapes after class, and then make
notes of the most important ideas.
• If you learn best by doing (kinesthetic learner), write
out concepts and definitions, draw pictures and dia-
grams, and outline chapters in your textbooks. Do
things like handle bones of the skeleton when learning
anatomy, palpate muscles as you memorize their loca-
tions and attachments, and combine doing massage
techniques with memorizing their effects.
• In study groups, explain basic concepts to each other,
ask each other questions, and discuss important top-
ics. Listen to what others have to say, and also practice
saying your ideas out loud to others. This helps you
clarify your thoughts.
• Use study guides and supplemental materials that
come with your textbooks.
Take Time
Set aside enough time to read, discuss, think about, and test
yourself on material you are learning. The more you review
11/03/15 6:05 pm
  Fast Track to Success    xxvii
the material and interact with it in different ways, the better
your grasp of it will be. A general rule is to study 3 hours
for every hour you are in class. Finally, tell the instructor
or a counselor if you are getting lost or behind in class. Be
open to suggestions and to trying new learning methods.
Remember the old adage “You can lead a horse to water,
but you can’t force him to drink.” The school and teachers
are responsible for setting up a good learning environment,
but you must do your part for learning to take place.
Taking Tests
Written examinations are a fact of life in school and in
attaining certification and licensing. Some people find
exams a positive experience. They enjoy testing their
knowledge and approach them like game shows on TV.
Others find exams anxiety provoking and decidedly
unpleasant. Following some simple guidelines can maxi-
mize the chances that your test results will truly reflect
what you have learned.
Get Focused
First, arrive early and get organized and settled into your
seat. Get out your pencil and other items you will need for
the test. Put your other things away and out of sight so that
you have a clear space to work and think. Do whatever
works for you to calm down, focus, and concentrate, for
example, quiet sitting or deep breathing.
If you get distracted easily, find a quiet place in the
room away from doors and windows. Sit in the front row
near a wall if possible. Ask the monitor if you can wear
earplugs to muffle distracting sounds.
Understand the Test
Read and understand the test directions before you start.
Ask the monitor for an explanation of directions you do
not understand. Quickly look over the entire test to see how
long it is and what types of questions are on it, so that you
can plan your time.
Read each question carefully before answering.
Reading too quickly can cause you to miss important words.
Be sure you fully understand what the question is asking.
Don’t panic if you have a momentary lapse of mem-
ory. If you draw a blank on a question, skip over it, and go
back to it later. Don’t be disturbed if others finish before
you do. Focus on what you are doing, and take the time
allowed to finish. If you have extra time, check over your
answers to catch careless mistakes, or reread and improve
essay answers.
Answer Questions Thoughtfully
Essay Questions  First, determine what level of knowl-
edge the question requires. Action words like list, define,
A01_TAPP2691_06_SE_FM.indd 27
compare, analyze, and explain tell you how to approach your
answer. Outline your answer on a scratch sheet to organize
your thoughts and identify important points.
Do not write everything you remember about the topic.
Be sure that your answer addresses the specific question
asked. Be concise and direct in your answer. Don’t ramble.
Write legibly and in complete sentences. Use good gram-
mar and correct spelling. Come back to your answer later if
you have time to recheck for accuracy, completeness, clar-
ity, and to correct grammatical and spelling errors.
If you run out of time, quickly outline an answer.
Providing some information is better than leaving the ques-
tion blank.
Objective Test Questions  The most common objective
test questions are multiple choice, true/false, and matching.
Answer the questions in order, marking the ones you are not
sure of in the margin. Do not spend too much time on any
one question. Give it your best guess and move on. You can
go back to it later if you have time.
Watch out for negative wording such as not or least,
“double negatives,” and qualifying words like always, sel-
dom, never, most, best, and largest. Read each question
thoroughly for full understanding of what it says.
Multiple-choice questions are designed so that only
one choice is correct. A good strategy is to find the cor-
rect answer by the process of elimination of the incorrect
ones. Grammatical inconsistencies may tip you off to the
right answer or to a wrong one. Read the question and your
choice together to make sure it makes grammatical sense.
True/false questions need to be read very carefully.
One incorrect detail makes the whole statement false. If a
sentence has two parts (a compound sentence), both parts
need to be true for the whole question to be true.
For matching questions, use one column as your ref-
erence. For each item in that column, go through all items
in the second column until you find a match. Match all the
ones you are sure of first, and then go back to match the
others with your best guess.
Do not change your answers without good reason. First
“guesses” tend to be better than “second guessing.” If you
are not guessing, but have a good reason to change your
mind, go ahead and change an answer.
Your Resource for Learning
Tappan’s Handbook of Massage Therapy: Blending Art
with Science is intended to be your resource for learning.
Every feature is designed to lead you to success in laying
the foundations for your career in massage therapy. By
keeping your career goals in sight, you can find motiva-
tion to do what it takes to get the most out of your time in
school.
11/03/15 6:05 pm
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Untitled-1.indd 2 10/07/15 1:32 pm

 Chapter 1
Massage Therapy Profession
Chapter 2
History of Massage
as a Vocation
Chapter 3
Professional and Personal
Development
Chapter 4
Physical Skills, Fitness, Self-
Care for the Massage
Therapist
Chapter 5
Ethics and the Therapeutic
Relationship

P a r t

1
Getty Images/Bruce Ayres

Foundations for
Massage Therapy
Professionals

M01A_TAPP2691_06_SE_P01.indd 1 10/03/15 7:41 PM

 1
Chapter

Massage Therapy Profession

Chapter Outline
Learning Outcomes Education
Key Terms Credentials
The Journey Organizations
Massage Defined Scholarship and Publications
Pearson Education, Inc.

Wellness Profession Research

Trends Ethical Standards
Typical Work Settings Recognition by the Public and
Becoming a Massage Therapy Health Professionals
Professional Chapter Highlights
Body of Knowledge and Skills Exam Review

Learning Outcomes
After studying this chapter, you will have information to:

1. Define massage therapy. 6. Discuss education standards for massage therapists.

2. Explain the scope of massage therapy using the Well-
ness Massage Pyramid.
3. Identify trends related to massage therapy.
4. Summarize the variety of career opportunities for
massage therapists.
5. Describe the unique knowledge base of massage
therapy.
7. Describe the types of credentials available to massage
therapists.
8. Distinguish among various kinds of professional
organizations.
9. Identify major sources of information about massage
therapy.
10. Describe the state of massage therapy research.

Key Terms
Accreditation Credentials Massage Professional associations
Board certification Ethical standards Massage therapy Sports, fitness, and
Complementary and Health care settings Occupational licensing recreation settings
alternative medicine Home visit practice Personal care settings Wellness Massage Pyramid
(CAM) (WMP)
Integrative medicine center Private practice settings
Continuing education (CE) Wellness profession
2   

M01B_TAPP2691_06_SE_C01.indd 2 11/03/15 4:01 pm

  Chapter 1 • Massage Therapy Profession    3
The Journey
Welcome! You have begun the journey to becoming a suc-
cessful massage therapist. The next several months will be a
period of transformation as you learn to be a competent and
caring professional. Your education will be a holistic expe-
rience as you physically master massage techniques, men-
tally absorb the science and theory of massage therapy, and
practice the social skills needed for good relationships with
clients. You will exercise your memory, develop reasoning
skills, and internalize the principles of ethical behavior. You
will learn about employment opportunities and how to start
and maintain your own massage therapy practice.
The first step on this journey is to survey the landscape
of massage therapy, that is, to get the big picture of the
career that you have chosen. That means understanding what
massage therapy is, its broad scope as a wellness profes-
sion, trends related to its use, and where massage therapists
work. The next step is to get an overview of the massage
therapy profession, such as education, certification, licens-
ing, research, and the organizations and publications avail-
able to massage therapists.
Massage Defined
Massage is the intentional and systematic manipulation of
the soft tissues of the body to enhance health and healing.
Massage is performed with or without lubricating substances
such as oil and lotion. Joint movements and stretching are
commonly performed as part of massage. Adjunct modali-
ties within the scope of massage include the use of hot and
cold packs and hydrotherapy in the form of the whirlpool
bath, sauna, and steam room.
Simple hand tools are sometimes used to apply pres-
sure during massage, as are machines that mimic massage
techniques. However, massage is primarily manual therapy;
that is, it is performed by hand. It is the person-to-person
touch essential to massage that gives it a unique healing
potential.
The most common system of massage in North Amer-
ica is traditional European massage, often called Swedish
massage. Swedish massage is based on an understanding
of anatomy, physiology, pathology, and other biosciences.
The seven technique categories of Swedish massage consist
of the following:
• Effleurage
• Petrissage
• Tapotement
• Friction
• Vibration
• Touch without movement
• Joint movements
M01B_TAPP2691_06_SE_C01.indd 3
Swedish massage techniques are applied to improve overall
functioning of the body systems, to enhance healing, and for
relaxation of body and mind.
In addition to Swedish massage, massage therapy today
encompasses a variety of specialized techniques and alterna-
tive approaches. Specialized systems of soft tissue manipu-
lation include manual techniques that affect specific body
systems, for example, myofascial massage, trigger point
therapy, and lymphatic facilitation. Other types of manual
therapy, like reflexology and polarity therapy, have gone
outside Western science and encompass alternative theories
of health and healing.
Traditions of manual therapy are found all over the
globe. Major traditions include folk and native practices
from different areas of the world, the more developed sys-
tems of European massage, Ayurvedic massage from India,
and Asian bodywork therapies based in Chinese medicine.
Some eclectic approaches combine theory and techniques
from several systems.
Massage therapy is a general term used to describe
all the different systems of soft tissue manipulation. Body-
work is a term coined in the late twentieth century to encom-
pass a wide variety of manual therapies including massage,
movement integration, structural integration, and energy
balancing. The terms massage and bodywork are often used
together to describe the occupational field of massage ther-
apy, as in therapeutic massage and bodywork.
Wellness Profession
Massage therapists apply massage and related modalities
to help clients on their quest for high-level wellness. This
includes massage therapy for stress reduction, for treatment
and recovery from illness and injuries, as a simple healthy
pleasure, and for many other purposes. The broad scope
of the field is evident in the Wellness Massage Pyramid
(WMP) in Figure 1–1 ■.
The WMP illustrates the major goals of massage ther-
apy and its many applications. The goal at the top is high-
level wellness, a condition of optimal physical, emotional,
intellectual, spiritual, social, and vocational well-being. The
concept of wellness is holistic at its core, encompassing the
whole person.
The three levels at the base of the pyramid address
deficiency needs related to illness and injury. These include
applications of massage therapy for treatment of, recovery
from, and prevention of illness and injury. Satisfying those
needs brings one to the neutral zone, which is the old defini-
tion of health as the absence of disease.
Next in the WMP are the growth levels. These include
massage therapy applications for health maintenance, per-
sonal growth, and enjoyment of life to its fullest—all aiming
toward a state of high-level wellness. The upper part of the
pyramid contains massage therapy for purposes such as opti-
mal body system functioning, developing greater awareness
11/03/15 4:01 pm
 4    Part 1 • Foundations for Massage Therapy Professionals
of the inner self, feeling integrated in body and mind, and
enjoying the healthy pleasure of caring touch.
Massage therapy is included in the broad category of
complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). CAM
therapies are healing systems or modalities generally out-
side mainstream allopathic medicine, for example, herbal
remedies, acupuncture, naturopathic medicine, biofeedback,
and music therapy. The White House Commission on CAM
Policy (2002)1 cited therapeutic massage, bodywork, and
somatic movement therapies as a major CAM domain. Mas-
sage therapy as a CAM domain generally refers to applica-
tions of massage at the base of the WMP.
In its fullest sense, massage therapy is best thought of as
a wellness profession because the work of massage thera-
pists spans the entire wellness massage paradigm. Because
of its broad scope, there are a wide variety of career oppor-
tunities for massage therapy practitioners. These include
developing general practices, or more narrow specializa-
tions such as personal care, sports and fitness, or health care.
Critical Thinking
T hink about your current state of well-being. Note where
improvements can be made, and formulate some wellness goals
for yourself. Now determine how massage might fit into a plan
to meet those goals.
1. Consider the broad scope of wellness, including physi-
cal, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, social, and vocational
well-being.
M01B_TAPP2691_06_SE_C01.indd 4
Figure 1–1
Wellness Massage Pyramid.
Some massage therapists focus on a particular client group,
such as the elderly, children, athletes, people with a cer-
tain disease or disability, or other special population. Over
time, massage and bodywork practitioners learn new skills,
deepen their knowledge, take advanced training, and change
work settings. Because it is a wellness profession, a career
in massage therapy opens many opportunities for satisfying
individual interests, talents, and strengths.
Trends
Consumer surveys reveal trends in the popularity of massage
and the reasons people seek it out. Recent studies indicate
an increased use of massage overall. A 2012 survey showed
that a high percentage of consumers (68%) received their
massage in spas and independent massage therapy offices.
Other places mentioned were hair salons, hotels, and medi-
cal practices. The majority of massage recipients were
women (60%) according to survey results.2
2. Use the Wellness Massage Pyramid to identify areas of per-
sonal deficiency (e.g., illness or injury) and areas for personal
growth.
3. Explain how massage might fit into a plan to help you meet
your personal wellness goals.
4. Compare the benefits you might expect from massage to
others in the class. Notice how each person’s needs and
desires are unique.
11/03/15 4:01 pm
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 DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
 FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
 Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
 The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

 This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second

showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
 “We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
 Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
 BRAZIER

Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT

SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB

CUTTING THE EDGE

 FINISHING THE BOTTOM

LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

BURNING

FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

 LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE

TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL

NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
 Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK

DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG

REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

 BEATING THE BARK

WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

SOFT

MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN