Page:Things Japanese (1905).djvu/27

Rh  "As practised by the Japanese acupuncturists, the operation consists in perforating the skin and underlying tissues to a depth, as a rule, not exceeding one-half to three-quarters of an inch, with fine needles of gold, silver, or steel. The form and construction of these needles vary, but, generally speaking, they are several inches long, and of an average diameter of one forty-eighth of an inch. Each needle is usually fastened into a handle, which is spirally grooved from end to end.

"To perform the operation, the handle of the needle is held lightly between the thumb and first finger of the left hand, the point resting upon the spot to be punctured. A slight blow is then given upon the head of the instrument with a small mallet held in the right hand; and the needle is gently twisted until its point has penetrated to the desired depth, where it is left for a few seconds and then slowly withdrawn, and the skin in the vicinity of the puncture rubbed for a few moments. The number of perforations ranges from one to twenty, and they are usually made in the skin of the abdomen, although other portions of the body are not unfrequently punctured."

 Adams (Will). Will Adams, the first Englishman that ever resided in Japan, was a native of Gillingham, near Chatham, in the county of Kent. Having followed the sea from his youth up, he took service, in the year 1598, as "Pilot Maior of a fleete of five sayle," which had been equipped by Dutch merchants for the purpose of trading to Spanish America. From "Perow" a portion of the storm-tossed fleet came on to "Iapon," arriving at a port in the province of Bungo, not far from "Langasacke" (Nagasaki), on the 19th April, 1600. From that time until his death in May 1620, Adams remained in an exile which, though gilded, was none the less bitterly deplored. The English pilot, brought first as a captive into the presence of Ieyasu, who was then on the point of becoming practically what Adams calls him, "Emperour" of Japan, had immediately been recognised by that shrewd judge of character as an able and an honest man. That he and his nation