Page:Why the Shoe Pinches.djvu/31

 properly-formed feet; and hence they are frequently met with. That wearing down of the posterior edge of the heel which is so common, is caused, not by treading on one side, but by putting the heel to the ground first.

Some recommend, with a view to the prevention of treading on one side, especially in the case of children, whose feet, retaining their normal form, readily twist their shoes about, that there should be a frequent change of shoes from the right foot to the left, and vice versa; and certainly the disfigurement of the shoe, by treading to one side, is thus prevented.

The foot has now, however, assigned to it the very serious task of treading the shoe to both sides, for it is clear that it is continually being opposed to the powerful pressure of the upper leather, which at every moment is being forced into another shape.

The changing of the shoe from one foot to another is thus one of the most baneful abuses to which a foot can possibly be subjected; and in the case of children (to whom these remarks only apply) with feet, the development of which is still incomplete, the influence must be doubly injurious.