Page:Science ofDress235.png

CHAP. XIV.] the bootmaker who shod the original of the picture.

Deformed feet are unfortunately not the exception but the rule in England, and it is quite time that we should strike at the root of this evil. The foot is naturally a beautiful organ; why should it not be allowed to retain its beauty? The foot is generally said to have three chief parts—the tarsus and metatarsus, which form the arch of the foot, and the toes. These parts are made up in all of twenty-eight bones, all of which are well supplied with muscles. The foot is therefore by nature a very mobile organ, and those who have been deprived of the use of their arms have found that with their feet they could perform those actions for which we employ our hands. There is a well-known case of a man born without arms who earned his living by painting pictures with his feet, and another in the same unfortunate case who became a very good violinist.

If we watch the movements of infants' feet, we notice their great freedom; the little toes are stretched out and drawn back, they will grasp anything placed in contact with them, and the bones and muscles are all brought into play in seemingly aimless sprawlings. These movements, however, are by no means aimless, they serve the good purpose of preparing the feet for future usefulness; but that usefulness is unfortunately curtailed by our "civilized" boots and shoes, which cramp the feet, and, by preventing the proper movement of the bones, cause the degeneration of