The Massage Case. By Cyril Bennett. 2 vols. (Fisher Linwin.)
—It is possible that some of our readers may not know that "massage" is a kind of medical or quasi-medical treatment by means of rubbing. The author, or at least the teller, of this tale seems to have a grievance, either in her own person or in the person of some friend, against certain practitioners of this method. She describes a. Doctor Broadley, a very self-willed, obstinate physician who pre- scribes it, and a private nursing establishment where it is carried out ; and the description is somewhat to the disadvantage of the former, and very much to the disadvantage of the latter. The physician means well, but so much cannot be said for the principal of the nursing establishment. Then there comes in a doctor who is sym- pathetic, and also knows what he is about. Finally, the whole scene is changed to Egypt, for no particular reason except that the writer would BOOM to have been in that country. It is a good rule not to write a book, except one has something to say. But to have been medically rubbed and not liked it, and to have been in Egypt, hardly supply a sufficient raison d'etre, even with a strong hatred for Mr. Gladstone's Government thrown in.
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