Note 216 — THE STORY OF THE KAZI WHO BARE A BABE.[204]

Here is an allusion to the “Massage,” which in these days has assumed throughout Europe all the pretensions of scientific medical treatment. The word has been needlessly derived from the Arab. “Mas’h” = rubbing, kneading; but we have the Gr. synonym μάσσω and the Lat. Massare. The text describes child-bed customs amongst Moslem women; and the delivery of the Kazi has all the realism of M. Zola’s accouchement in La Joie de Vivre.