Page:Why the Shoe Pinches.djvu/20

 decree that henceforth the hand be squeezed into a conical leather bag;—as well indeed might she in one of her freaks forbid the display of our arms, and bind them firmly to our bodies like those of children in swaddling-clothes.

The shoe ought to protect the foot, but it has no business to distort its shape.

Shoemakers should be aware of this, and try to make the covering of the foot a suitable one. The best of them, however, are grievously ill-qualified for this task if they are ignorant of the principles on which they ought to proceed in the construction of shoes really fit to serve their purpose, or if, from thoughtlessness or timidity, they stick fast to the pernicious forms in general use. To those amongst their number who think for themselves, and who understand their business, the following hints on the proper construction of the shoe will be welcome.

A shoe which will really be a help to walking, and not, as is too often the case, a hindrance, should be adapted to the shape of the foot, and this must accordingly first occupy our attention.

The foot consists of six-and-twenty bones, very beautifully arranged, and admitting of more or less motion on one another.