Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/899

 SHOE 873 years. In some parts of England the business of working up woollen rags is very extensive. About one third of the whole amount is pro- duced at Batley, Yorkshire, and the remainder in neighboring towns. The rags pass through a number of hands in the course of preparation for the powerful machines employed in tearing them to fibres. In the United States shoddy has become a manufacture of considerable im- portance, and the article is also imported from England. The manufacture in Germany is also extensive. Its presence is detected in wearing garments by the collection of rolls of short wool between the cloth and the lining. Un- less the admixture is excessive, the wear of the cloth is not materially affected. SHOE, a covering for the foot, commonly made of leather. If furnished with a top for enclosing the lower part of the leg, it is called FIG. 1. Sandals. I. Foot of Statue of Elpis, in the Vati- ican. 2. Female Foot with simple Sandal. 3. Foot of Apollo Belvedere. a boot. The oldest form is that of the san- dal, a flat sole to be worn under the foot, and secured to it by thongs in various ways, as shown in the accompanying illustration. The ancient Egyptians made sandals of leather, and others for the priests of palm leaves and papy- rus. Specimens from their tombs are pre- served in the British museum, formed of strips of palm leaf nicely fitted together and fur- nished with bands of the stem of the papyrus. The Hebrews used similar protections for the feet, sometimes formed of linen and of wood, while those for soldiers were of brass or iron. Among the ancient Greeks and Komans the use of shoes was not general. Spartan youths were trained to go barefoot, and the heroes of Fio. 2. Shoes. 1. From an Antique Statue. 2. Foot of the Statue of Hermes in the Vatican. 8. From a Statue of Demosthenes in the Vatican. Homer are usually described as without shoes when armed for battle. Greek women, how- ever, wore shoes, and their use finally became universal. There was great diversity in their fashion, and the several sorts were named from the person who introduced them or from the place whence they came ; as the " shoes of Al- cibiades," "Persian," "Cretan," "Athenian shoes," &c. The Spartans wore red shoes, and the same were put on by the chief magistrates of Rome on ceremonial occasions. The calce- ut was like modern shoes in form, covering the whole foot, and tied with latchets or strings. Those of senators and patricians were high like buskins, ornamented with an ivory crescent, and called calcei lunati. Some were made with tops, and of all lengths, even to cov- ering the whole leg; these were called calceamenta and cothurni. The tops were often of the skins of wild animals, lacing up in front, and ornamented at the up- per extremity with the paws and heads arranged in a flap that turned over. The skin was dyed purple or some other bright color, and the shoes were variously orna- mented with imitations of jewels, and sometimes with cameos. It was common to make them open at the toe, so that this part of the foot was left exposed. Wooden shoes were in common use throughout Europe in the 9th and 10th centuries, and were worn even by the first princes ; but sometimes highly orna- mented leather sandals or shoes were worn. Great attention was directed in the middle ages to this portion of the dress, as well as to FIG. 8. Shoe and Boot. 1. Shoe, from an Antique Statue. 2. Hunt- ing Boot, from Statue of Diana. FIG. 4. Shoe of Charlemagne, Abbey of St. Dento. the covering for the head (see HAT), and equal extravagances were adopted in both articles. The shoes were worn of different colors, and the stockings also were unlike each other, and of different colors from either of the shoes. In the reign of William Rufus a famous beau, Rob- ert, surnamed the Horned, introduced shoes FIG 51. From a Portrait of the Emperor Frederick III. 2. Italian Shoe of the 14th Century. with long-pointed toes twisted like a ram's horn. Though strongly inveighed against, the style became fashionable, and in the reign oi