-MRLF 
 
//m^i/e^^u^ y€^ (^^t/^/^^rm^oy 
 
 T 
 
 c/o. ^yfca^K^^ cz^y^^^ 
 
 SIOktMlY 
 
 ilBRARY 
 
 G 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 witii funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.arcliive.org/details/dresscareoffeetsOOpeckricli 
 
i 
 
 J 
 
peck, X,. 
 
 DRESS AND CARE 
 
 THE FEET; 
 
 SHOWING 
 
 THEIR NATURAL SHAPE AND CONSTRUCTION ; THEIR 
 
 USUAL DISTORTED CONDITION ; HOW CORNS, BUNIONS, 
 
 FLAT FEET, AND OTHER DEFORMITIES ARE CAUSED, 
 
 WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOR THEIR PREVENTION 
 
 OR CURE., ; , , ^ , ; >' , ' 
 
 Aijso, /.^ ] '^ •*•.•', '/> • : \ 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR DRESSING THE FEET WITH COMFORT 
 
 AND ELEGANCE, AND MANY USEFUL HINTS TO 
 
 THOSE WHO WEAR, AS WELL AS THOSE WHO 
 
 MAKE FOOT-COVERINGS. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED, 
 
 LONDON: WILLIAM TEGG. 
 1872. 
 

 ©1 ' -^^ 
 
 G 
 
 
 MCMRY morse: STtL 
 
 T'HeMII 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 HTHE object of this little treatise is to bring before 
 the popular attention some ideas concerning the 
 feet that are not generally familiar ; to exhibit the pro- 
 ducing causes of the common deformities and dis- 
 comforts to which they are subject ; to show the best 
 means of preserving their natural shape and condition 
 or of restoring it as far as possible when lost ; and to 
 suggest better methods for their dress and general 
 treatment, in order to their more perfect health, 
 beauty, and performance of function. 
 
 The subject has already received some little atten- 
 tion. Some time about the beginning of the present cen- 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 tury Dr. Peter Camper, of Amsterdam — a distinguished 
 man of his time — wrote a short dissertation upon the 
 ''Best Form of Shoe," which was eventually translated 
 and published in England in 1861, in connection with 
 a larger work by Mr. James Dowie. Dr. Camper's 
 essay was excellent as a first effort in this direction, 
 furnishing some ideas upon the form of the foot and 
 the defect of its covering, which still remain hardly 
 less just and appropriate. Mr. Dowie added some 
 good suggestions, and faithfully exposed the faults of 
 the foot-gear worn by the British army and the hum - 
 bier classes; but a considerable portion of his book 
 was taken up in the explanation and advocacy of 
 elasticated leather — an article of his own invention — 
 while the whole was written in a style too difficult to 
 be generally read. 
 
 Another work published in England was the " Book 
 of the Feet,", by J. Sparkes Hall, issued a few years 
 previous to that of Mr. Dowie. Though very inte- 
 resting as a concise history of the' shoemaking art, it 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 touched but slightly upon those abuses of the feet with 
 which shoemaking is connected. 
 
 But a late essay directly upon the subject, by Prof. 
 Hermann Meyer, of Zurich, Switzerland, has a value 
 superior in this respect to that of all the preceding 
 ones. 
 
 The present writer has intended to include all the 
 important ideas of previous writers on the subject, 
 together with such information as could be gathered 
 from medical and other works, but going farther and 
 adding such original notions as the observation and 
 thought of his own mind could supply, with the pur- 
 pose of making the whole as thorough and complete 
 as possible, both from the point of view of the phy- 
 siologist and that of the practical shoemaker. 
 
 The book is not written in the dignified style of a 
 professor, nor with literary correctness ; but it is hoped 
 the ideas contained, and the nature of the subject- 
 matter, will make it readable. It is addressed to those 
 who desire comfort for their feet, and no less to those 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 who wish to see them handsome in form and tastefully 
 dressed. 
 
 As first prepared, the matter, under a different title, 
 was printed in a trade journal — the Slice and Leather 
 Reporter — in 1868, since which a careful revision has 
 improved and adapted it for its present form. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PACK 
 
 Introductory i 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Natural Position of the Toes — Anatomical Argu- 
 ment — Correspondence of Foot and Hand — Ne- 
 cessity of Freedom for the Toes — Criticism on 
 Forms of Sole ....... 6 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 Distortion of the Toes and Joint — Various Causes 
 —Want of Harmony between Shape of Foot and 
 Shape of Shoe — Grown-in-Nails^Influence of 
 Stockings, Narrow-Toed Soles, High Heels, and 
 Changing of Shoes — Faults of Lasts . , . 17 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Prevention of Deformed Toes and Joint — New 
 Forms of Sole — Eureka Last — True Standard 
 of Taste — How Distorted Great Toe may be 
 Straightened — Ancient and Medieval Foot-ap- 
 parel — Suggestions 36 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Flattened Condition of the Arch — Beauty of One 
 that is Natural — Nature and Purpose of its Con- 
 struction — How it becomes Broken Down — 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Lengthening of the Foot — Lack of Development 
 — Means of Improvement— Lasts for Flat Feet 
 — Transverse Arch 6r 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 Natural Character of the Instep — Causes, and Pre- 
 vention, of Sores upon it — False Taste — Callosi- 
 ties of the Heel — Counters — Criticism of Lasts . 87 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Inclinations of the Feet — How to Make them tread 
 Squarely — Peculiar Lasts — Weak Ankles — Culti- 
 vation of Muscle — Turning-in of the Toes . . 100 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 Corns, Bunions, and Callosities — How they Origi- 
 nate — Nature of the Skin — ^Various Causes of 
 Corns — How to Remove them — Quotations from 
 the Medical Books — Nature and Treatment of 
 Bunions no 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Recapitulation — Lasts for Individual Feet — Possi- 
 bility of all Feet being Well Fitted in their 
 Clothing — Ease and Grace of Movement — A Last 
 Word for Children 128 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Miscellaneous — Criticism of Different Forms and 
 Fashions — Elasticity — Sensitiveness — Rubbers 
 and Water-proof Leather — Cure for Sweating — 
 Qualities of a Good Covering . ^ , .139 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 'T^HE human foot, it appears to us, is one of those 
 members of the body that have never received their 
 due share of consideration. Like certain downtrodden 
 members of the social body, it seems to have been looked 
 upon as having fewer ''rights that were entitled to respect" 
 than those organs which occupy a higher place, as the 
 hands and eyes. No other part has been so abused by 
 pinching, squeezing, chafing, freezing, and corning. The 
 waist, of one sex especially, has suffered a good deal of 
 compression, but not so much, we think as has the foot. 
 It might perhaps be contended that the lowest parts of the 
 system perform a function equally necessary with that of 
 those above them and are therefore entitled to as tender 
 care ; but whether this be so or not, it is at least certain 
 they are " pressed to earth " in a way that is wrong ; and 
 knowing this, it shall be our duty to set forth their wrongs 
 
 I 
 
2 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 and rights as well as we may, hoping to effect some im- 
 provement in the manner of their treatment. 
 
 The natural object and intention of the foot is the 
 suppdpf.pj the WdJ^jI.ahd {he carrying of it, in all its 
 movsments, iigi^^tly, Qasijy, .safd)^, and gracefully. To this 
 oifj act .It is'aiB*bcauiifuLIJ^.kn'd "wonderfully adapted as the 
 eye and ear, those special objects of wonder, to the func- 
 tions performed by them. Its perfection may be most 
 frequently seen in the graceful steps of the dance, though 
 often also in the ordinary walk, while its capabilities may 
 be judged of by the fact, not so generally known, that 
 men deprived of their hands have succeeded in making 
 their toes do the work of the fingers in writing. Anatomy 
 recognizes the fact, that in the number and character of 
 the bones, joints, and muscles of the foot and leg, and the 
 connection of the femur or thigh-bone at the pelvis, there 
 is a strict similarity or correspondence with those of the 
 hand and arm, and the connection of the latter at the 
 shoulder-blade. This justifies the conclusion, that all the 
 variety of motion, and complete adaptation to an infinite 
 number of uses, which exists in the hand, exists also to a 
 less degree in the foot, and can be brought out and ex- 
 hibited, much of it at least, under circumstances requiring 
 its development. There is no reason for scepticism as to 
 the foot's concealed powers — none for withholding the 
 admiration due to its perfect performance of the offices for 
 which it is designed. 
 
 Nature, when allowed free scope for her work, does it 
 
DI^BSS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 3 
 
 thoroughly and handsomely. Healthy children are born 
 with arched insteps and straight toes. Notice the foot of 
 the little urchin who runs barefoot in summer time around 
 the outskirts of our cities and villages, and there is no fault 
 to be found with it. Though the parents' feet have flat 
 insteps, crooked toes, and big joints, those of the child are 
 regular-shaped and sound. There seems to be an inten- 
 tion to give every one a fair start in the race of life with 
 good pedal extremities. It is not at all probable that old 
 father Adam went perambulating about his garden with 
 the " hollow of his foot making a hole in the ground," or 
 that his great toes pointed off in the direction of the little 
 ones, as though they had a secret affinity for them, while 
 the others were forced upward out of place, in order to 
 cover up the affair ; nor that our beautiful mother Eve 
 wandered among the flowers with her feet disfigured by 
 corns and large joints. If they had been, would the 
 serpent have cultivated her acquaintance in the way he 
 did ? On the contrary, does not every painter and sculptor 
 represent her with feet beautiful and shapely, like every 
 other feature of her person ? Did the old Greek, Phidias, 
 make flat feet on his statues, and ornament them with 
 corns and callosities ? Did old Hercules have a big toe- 
 joint on which to rest his club ? Or did the ancients of 
 the Golden Age know about such things at all ? The Art 
 of the world has never recognized them as beautiful or 
 natural. We venture to say that in all the painting and 
 sculpture of the past they cannot be found. They are 
 
 I 
 
4 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 entirely unnatural and deformed, belonging to the days of 
 modern civilization. Nature makes her feet, except in rare 
 instances, with arches well-marked and strong, and toes 
 that point directly forward in the line of the foot's length. 
 Yet the deformities spoken of are very common at the 
 present time, and in this most intelligent part of the world. 
 We believe, judging from a dozen years' experience in the 
 making of boots and shoes for individual feet, that those 
 more or less deformed constitute the rule, and the healthy 
 and well-formed ones the exception. Such disfigurements 
 and distortions are thrust upon our attention every day — 
 crooked feet— short, stumpy feet— feet that tread inward, 
 and those that tread only on the outside edge — flat feet — 
 crippled feet — and feet so disproportioned that the part 
 which should be an inch smaller than the instep is often 
 half an inch larger — feet with large ankles, and feet with 
 long heels — swelled feet, and feet that are nothing but 
 bones — feet that turn inward and outward, and backward 
 — feet with flat insteps — with big joints — with great toes 
 that lie crosswise of the smaller ones — with small ones that 
 grow over each other — with nails grown in, or to one side 
 — with hard corns, and soft corns, little and big — with cal- 
 losities on insteps, and heels, and ankles — with chilblains 
 all over— feet with weak ankles that have lost their upright- 
 ness — sweaty feet — sensitive feet that take cold by wetting, 
 and give their owner a consumption — and dirty feet that 
 deserve to be diseased if they are not 
 The causes of these depravities, diseases, and deformi- 
 
DJ^ESS AND CARE OE THE EEET. 5 
 
 ties are many and various. Thick and stiff leather coverings 
 have had much to do with corns and callosities. False 
 taste and fashions, bad habits of changing shoes, unnatu- 
 ral-shaped lasts, awkwardness in gait and movement, 
 muscular weakness, and perhaps other causes that we do 
 not yet know, have combined to produce flat insteps, 
 crooked toes, large joints, weak ankles, and all the rest. 
 
 The subject is one in which all who have not lost their 
 feet are more or less interested. To those who have chil- 
 dren it is more especially important. While much may be 
 done to reform the feet of adult persons, and it is intended 
 to hold out all possible encouragement to them to attempt 
 it, still it is with the children that the main work of cor- 
 recting, improving, and educating must be effected. If a 
 child's feet are trained up in the way they should go^ they 
 will not be likely, when they are older, to depart from it, 
 and incur those penalties appropriately attached to an 
 abuse of the foot's nature. 
 
 The particular causes of the more important of these 
 troubles will be shown in the succeeding chapters, and 
 suggestions for their remedy or prevention given. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Natural Position of the Toes — ^Anatqmical Argument — correspond- 
 ence of Foot and Hand— Necessity of Freedom for the Toes — 
 Criticism on Forms of Sole. 
 
 /^NE of the worst of the distortions of the feet is the 
 ^~^^ obliquity or bending of the great toe toward the 
 outside, a fault^.with which several troublesome affections 
 are often connected, besides the more prominent one, the 
 enlargement of the joints. 
 
 To be convinced that this is a deformity, and of the 
 extent to which it is so, let any one notice the shape and 
 natural position of a child's foot, before it has been altered 
 by forcing into a falsely-shaped shoe. The toes will be 
 found lying straight forward m the line of the f oofs length, 
 with plenty of room for them to touch the ground without 
 pressing against each other. This is plainly the case with 
 every barefoot boy who is running about the streets or 
 over the farm. There are no cramped toes ; on the con- 
 trary, they sometimes appear to be separated more than 
 necessary, and the great toe, instead of inclining toward 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 7 
 
 the outside of the foot, seems to be ahnost turning to the 
 opposite direction. 
 
 All art, as already noticed in the first chapter, recognizes 
 the right of the toes to sufficient space to touch the surface 
 upon which they tread. It does not crowd them or turn 
 them aside from their natural straightness."^ An observa- 
 tion of the best specimens of statuary will confirm the 
 assertion, that the great toe ought ^ naturally, to lie pointing 
 directly forward^ in such a position that a line drawn front 
 the inner surface of the heel past the ball or joint will be 
 nearly parallel to it. It would seem that such a state- 
 ment is so nearly self-evident that every one must instantly 
 admit its truth, and ought to be aware of it without argu- 
 ment. Yet we doubt that it is commonly recognized, or 
 
 that the mass of people ever really think of it. Nor do 
 
 if- 
 
 we suppose those who have thought of it have considered 
 the matter to be of any importance, unless they happened 
 to be afflicted with some of the troubles that accompany 
 toe-distortion ; nor often then with any idea of removing 
 or preventing those evils. It is certain that the shoe 
 manufacturer and the last-maker have not had such a 
 supposition clearly in mind, at least with any idea of 
 changing the shape of the last accordingly. One manu- 
 
 * It is also true that many artists have been led to a mistake by 
 observation of the adult foot, which has been more or less deformed 
 by its coverings. In many works of art there is a larger joint than 
 natural, and the great toe is turned aside sufficiently to bring all 
 the toes close together, though not enough' to be a positive distor- 
 tion. 
 
8 nie£SS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 facturer who had been engaged in making boots and 
 shoes for the feet of his customers during twenty years 
 recently stated that, having drawings of thousands of feet, 
 and always finding the big toe turned toward the outside, 
 more or less, he never thought of it as being other than 
 the foot's normal shape. This shows how common the 
 deformity, as well as how uncommon the thought of what 
 is the foof s true form according to nature. 
 
 A pamphlet called " Why the Shoe PinchesJ^ discussing 
 this subject quite clearly, and with the authority of science, 
 was written by Herrman Meyer, M.D., Professor of 
 Anatomy in the University of Zurich. To it we are 
 indebted for many of the most important ideas here con- 
 tained, and for a presentation of the matter which first 
 drew our earnest attention. It gives an anatomical argu- 
 ment, illustrated by diagrams, to show the proper form of 
 the toes and forward part of the foot, which we will try to 
 present in our own way. 
 
 The metatarsal bones are five of the longest bones of 
 the foot, lying below, or in front of, what is commonly 
 known as the instep, and filling the space between the 
 instep and the toes, though, strictly speaking, they form a 
 part of the whole instep. They are nearly parallel with 
 each other, and to their forward ends the bones of the 
 toes are attached, forming the back toe-joints, at the part 
 called the bend of the foot. Where the great toe joins its 
 metatarsal bone, is called the ball or inside ball ; or, more 
 
JDRBSS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 9. 
 
 I Strictly, it is the under surface which is so called. These 
 metatarsal bones being straight, and so nearly parallel to 
 each other, it is a natural inference that the toe-bones 
 attached to them should lie straight in front of them, on 
 the same lines, and nearly parallel to each other also. In 
 short, they must do so, in order that when covered with flesh 
 they shall have room to touch the ground, or bend, without 
 interfering. This would bring all the toes, and their meta- 
 tarsal bones, parallel or nearly so, with a line drawn past 
 the whole inside of the foot. They would thus be allowed 
 space to grow naturally, to lie side by side, and perform 
 
 Fig. I,— a a, Metatarsal Bones ; d, Joint. 
 
 lieir proper functions without crowding or chafing, or 
 aclining sideways in either direction. The diagram of a 
 
lo DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 
 
 skeleton foot (copied from Professor Meyer^s pamphlet) 
 will show this more plainly than words. 
 
 It is claimed by the Professor, in this little book, that a 
 line drawn from the middle of the heel — on the sole — 
 under the centre of the ball or joint, should pass under the 
 middle of the great toe, through its whole length. His 
 reasoning for this idea is thus given ; 
 
 " The great toe plays by far the most important part in 
 walking, because when the foot is raised from the ground, 
 with the intention of throwing it forward, we first raise the 
 heel, then rest for a second on the great toe, and in lifting 
 this from the ground the point of it receives a pressure 
 which impels the body forward. Thus, in raising the foot, 
 the whole of the sole is gradually, as it were, * unrolled^ 
 up to the point of the great toe, which again receives an 
 impetus by contact with the ground. The great toe ought, 
 therefore, to have such a position as will admit of its being 
 imrolled in the manner described ; that is to say, it must 
 so lie that the line of its axis, when carried backward, 
 will ejnerge at the centre of the heelj and this is its position 
 in the healthy foot." 
 
 The great toe certainly plays an important part in walk- 
 ing, and is therefore entitled to all necessary freedom. 
 The position taken may be further strengthened by bring- 
 ing forward the fact that all natural feet are slightly wider 
 at the ball than at the instep, an inch and a half farther 
 back ; that is, wider at the forward than at the back or 
 upward ends of the metatarsal bones. This is readily seen 
 
DJ?JiSS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 in the cut of a healthy foot, Fig. 2, and still more plainly 
 in that of the foot-skeleton, Fig. 3. 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 
 In each of these figures the difference in the width at 
 the points a and b is what we wish to be noticed. It is 
 argued above, v/ith good reason, that the bone of the great 
 toe should lie directly forward of its metatarsal bone, on 
 the same line, which line, when carried back, passes under 
 the centre of the heel. And it is equally fair to infer that 
 the S7naller toes should lie directly forward of their meta- 
 tarsal bones, on the same lines. This would allow all the 
 toes to be spread a very little, as is apparent in Fig. 2, and 
 as the bones are spread in Fig. 3. There is thus a slight, 
 but distinct, gradual widening of the foot, from the middle 
 region to the ends of the toes, an idea which will be con- 
 firmed in every child's foot that may be observed. 
 
12 D/^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 
 
 The correspondence between the bones of the foot and 
 leg and those of the hand and arm also give countenance 
 to this notion. The metacarpal bones of the hand are 
 those which answer to the metatarsal bones of the foot ; 
 and that they are wider apart at their forward ends than 
 at their base or origin, is observable from the skeleton hand 
 Fig. 4, and from the hand having the thumb turned under, 
 Fig. 5- 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 Fig. s. 
 
 In this case, as in that of the foot, if the fingers lie 
 directly forward of their metacarpal bones, they are slightly 
 spread or separated. And the next fact to which attention 
 is requested is, that we never think of forcing them into 
 one position, or of confining them there, as is done with 
 the toes — a treatment that would quickly destroy their 
 
DJ?ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 13 
 
 usefulness, if attempted. They are allowed perfect freedom 
 to close or separate ; to be pushed over to one side or the 
 other, as occasion requires ; and to assume any natural 
 position when unoccupied. 
 
 Now, although there is a greater demand for the liberty 
 of the fingers, on account of the innumerable uses to which 
 they are capable of being put, the difference between them 
 and jthe toes, in this respect, is only a difference of degree ; 
 and it is evident that soi7tething, more or less, of the same 
 bad effect which would attend the cramping of the former, 
 must, as it does, attend the confinement and squeezing un- 
 dergone by the latter. It seems clear that in a state of 
 nature the toes are left equally free to " spread themselves," 
 or draw together when necessary, or to return to their 
 proper places in line with the metatarsal bones, when 
 there is nothing to draw them on one-side. In circum- 
 stances where they would not be interfered with, the large 
 one would doubtless have the position given it by Professor 
 Meyer, or, at least one very nearly the same ; that is, the 
 line of the toes carried backward would touch the middle 
 of the heel, and the whole inside of the foot would have a 
 general appearance of straightness. This, it is repeated, 
 is the form of the normal adult foot, and of the child's foot 
 ^«4iniversally. 
 
 ^P The only form of shoe which is absolutely correct, then, 
 is one allowing this amount of freedom to the toes — not 
 ^lone to the great one, but to all. The form recommended 
 by Dr. Meyer, which is represented in Fig. 6, like every 
 
14 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 Other now made distorts the httle toe, compeHing it to 
 turn under toward the middle of the foot, and giving it that 
 pecuhar twist that ahuost everyone may notice in his own. 
 
 Fig. 6.— Shape of Sole given in "Why the Shoe Pinches." 
 
 This, however, is only a shght fault compared to the 
 bending aside of the large toe, and is mentioned mainly 
 to show that neither that form nor any other gives to all 
 the toes the freedom which properly belongs to them. 
 The true standard form is one that will not compel any of 
 them to be cramped or bent aside, nor press injuriously 
 upon any part of the foot ; and to this form it should be 
 the shoemaker's endeavour to approximate as nearly as 
 possible. 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 15 
 
 But such a shape as would fulfil this requirement has 
 never been realised since the days of the ancient sandal 
 And the problem for the shoemaker to solve is to create a 
 covering that will give the freedom and ease of the old 
 sandal, combined with neatness and elegance of fit, with 
 protection from dirt, cold, and dampness ; and with pro- 
 priety and beauty throughout. It will be something 
 considerably different from any now worn, and may tax 
 his ingenuity to a greater extent than is supposed. Pro- 
 fessor Meyer is right concerning the form of its sole at the 
 inside J but the curve at the outside is too much like the 
 common style to be exactly the right thing. There seems 
 to be required a more abrupt curve at a point somewhat 
 farther forward than where the widest part is usually found 
 
 Fig. 7. 
 — a curve approaching more nearly to an obtuse angle, 
 something like what is represented in Fig. 7. 
 
i6 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 Thus, modifying, or adding to, the form of sole given 
 "by Dr. Meyer, we present it as the most perfect one we are 
 now able to suggest, and one tlie correctness of which is 
 confirmed by all the facts of anatomy, and by everything 
 bearing upon the subject. 
 
 As to what is theoretically right, then, we not only 
 indorse all that is urged by the author quoted, but go 
 farther, and claim for little toes, as well as great ones, the 
 right to grow as straight as nature intended them, and to 
 spread as freely as circumstances may require. There is 
 a point, however — one of practice, not theory — upon which 
 we may perhaps be said to partially disagree, and which 
 will be explained farther on. It is designed now to show 
 some of the bad results of a failure to conform the shape 
 of the boot or shoe to that of the foot ; and afterward 
 to consider what can be done in the way of improve- 
 ment. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Distortion of the Toes and Joint — Various Causes — Want of Har- 
 mony between Shape of Foot and Shape of Shoe — Grown-in Nails 
 — Influence of Stockings, Narrow- Toed Soles, High Heels, and 
 Changing of Shoes — Faults of Lasts. 
 
 npHE doctrine concerning the shape and position of the 
 
 toes is considered to be made sufficiently clear by " 
 what has been already advanced. As the best illustration 
 of it, we copy from Dr. Meyer's book a cut of the natural, 
 healthy foot of a child (Fig. 8), in which the line of the 
 s^reat toe, continued backward, passes under the middle of 
 the heel. By the side of this is placed a shoe-sole of the 
 common form (Figc 9), and which plainly does not harmo- 
 nize with the shape of the foot. From, the ball forward 
 instead of being straight on the inside line, it slants oft 
 obliquely toward the middle of the toe, making as great an 
 inclination or curve on that side as on the outside. As 
 the toes of the foot cannot force the upper of a boot over 
 the sole to any great extent, the form of the sole deter- 
 mines the shape in which the toes shall lie when they are 
 inside the boot. The line c d, in the diagram, shows 
 
i8 
 
 DRESS AND CARE OE THE FEET. 
 
 where the great toe ought to be ; but, far from being there^ 
 it is turned aside into the hne <: ^, a position entirely unna> 
 tural. We will here quote again from the book, taking the 
 liberty to italicize : 
 
 Fig. 8. Fig. 9 
 
 " It is quite clear that the foot must get into the shoe ; 
 and if the shoe differs in shape from the foot, it is no less 
 plain that the foot, being the more pliable, must necessarily 
 adapt itself to the shape of the shoe. If, then, fashion 
 prescribes an ai'bitrary form of shoe, she goes far beyond 
 her province, and in reality arrogates to herself the right 
 of determining the shape of the foot. 
 
 " But the foot is a part of the body, and must not be 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 19 
 
 ■phanged by fashion ; for our body is a gift, and its several 
 parts are beautifully adapted to the purposes for which 
 they were intended. 
 
 " If, therefore, we in any way change its normal form, 
 7iof only do wc not imp7'ove^ bnt we actually disfigure 
 it. 
 
 " We do not, indeed at first sight, perceive the arrogant 
 absurdity of which fashion is guilty in going so far as to 
 determine the shape of our feet, because we are not alive 
 to the fact that the case is peculiar to the feet. We only 
 see it influencing the shape of the shoe, and come to the 
 conclusion that it may regulate this, as well as the cut of 
 the coat. To this prevalent opinion we yield, regardless 
 of the influence on the shape of the shoe, and thereby on 
 the foot. As well, indeed, might fashion one day come to 
 the conclusion that fingers are inelegant, and 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 right 
 to distort its shaped 
 
 Seeing, therefore, that the common form of boots and 
 shoes, as now made, is not the true one, and that it arbi- 
 trarily forces the great toe into a false position, it follows 
 that all the bad effects resulting from this false position 
 are to be attributed directly to the incorrect form of the 
 last and shoe. The first of these is a crowding together 
 
20 DRBSS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 of all the toes, in which some are obliged to find their 
 places tmder, and some above, the more ambitious of them 
 sometimes pushing their nails through the upper leather, 
 the rubbing and chafing they meet making them sore, 
 Avhile the more humble are glad to curl themselves down 
 in any way that will give them a place of comfort. When 
 the crowding is not so great as to force them out of place 
 there is still a constant pressure against each other that is 
 liable to create corns between them. 
 
 Another effect is the g7'owing in, or to one side, of the 
 nails. The boot-upper presses the flesh against the nail of 
 the great toe on one side, while there is a similar pressure 
 from the smaller toes on the opposite side, and between 
 both, the nail is almost compelled to grow into the flesh, if 
 it grows at all. If the great toe gets the advantage, then 
 the one next to it is likely to suffer in the same way, and 
 all of them are liable to the same trouble. When the nail 
 grows so far that its edge turns downward, the pressure 
 against the sole, in walking or standing, is a more aggra- 
 vated discomfort. Dr. Meyer says that " by degrees it [the 
 toe] gets into a state of chronic inflammation, and may 
 eventually become ulcerated, producing what is popularly 
 known as * proud flesh.' The ailment not only interferes 
 v/ith the use of the foot, but too often requires, for its re- 
 lief, medical, and even operative interference." A surgical 
 operation of this kind, which consists in removing the nail 
 entirely, we are assured, by those who have seen it, is an 
 intensely painful thing to witness, and cannot be less so to 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 21 
 
 hQ borne. The following description of the nature of the 
 trouble, and of the mode of treatment, is copied from Dr. 
 R. T. Trail, for the benefit of those who may wish to treat 
 it for themselves. 
 
 " Onyxis. — This distressing affliction consists in an in- 
 curvation of the toe-nail from a bruise or the pressure of a 
 tight shoe, producing inflammation and ulceration, and 
 followed eventually by fungous growths, or proud flesh, 
 which is excedingly tender and painful. The cure is slow 
 but certain. The foot must be frequently soaked in warm 
 water, until the soreness is so far abated that it can be 
 handled without pain ; then, with a probe, press pledgets 
 of lint as firmly as can be borne under the most detached 
 point of the nail, pressing them also between the nail and 
 projecting portions of the flesh, as far as possible. Cover 
 these with the wet compress, and apply a moderately tight 
 bandage over the whole, frequently wetting the whole with 
 warm, tepid, or cold water, as either temperature is most 
 agreeable. The lints are to be pressed farther and farther 
 under the nail, from time to time, and the foot should be 
 soaked and dressed once or twice daily. When portions 
 of the nail become free they may be cut off, and mild 
 caustics may be employed to remove fungous or indurated 
 grovvths, which do not yield to the other measures of 
 treatment." 
 
 A j//;;/-toed shoe — one that is thin, and scant in the 
 upper — whatever be its width or shape, has a bad influence 
 upon the nails, not only by inciting them to grow in, but 
 
22 JDI^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 by turning them down at the ends, and keeping them 
 constantly irritated and sore, a condition which effectually 
 prevents the toes from being of any use. The seller of 
 such an article will sometimes try to persuade the wearer 
 that it is a " good fit" when snug at the forward part, 
 however loose elsewhere ; and many persons are quite 
 willing to be persuaded in this way. But if they are wise 
 they will not attempt to wear anything that is not perfectly 
 easy to the toes, for these may be allowed all necessary 
 room, and still, if the fit is "just right," there will be no 
 wrinkling, nor any other bad appearance. 
 
 The next and most important of the difficulties spring- 
 ing from this source is the enlargement of the great-toe 
 joint. We continue to quote from Meyer : 
 
 " Not less important are the evils arising at the root of 
 the great toe from the same cause. It has already been 
 stated that the pressure of the upper leather pushes the 
 point of the great toe against the smaller toes. The joint 
 at the metatarsal bone thus becomes bent aside, so that it 
 forms a protuberance on the inner side of the foot. If the 
 point of the toe is now pressed against the ground in walk- 
 ing, this protuberance must be made still greater, and so 
 pressed more forcibly against the upper leather. At the 
 same time, moreover, the great transverse wrinkle in the 
 upper leather— the result of the bending of the toes — 
 presses directly on the same point, and the protuberance 
 at the root of the toe is thus constantly subjected to a two- 
 fold and very injurious pressure. In these circumstances 
 
DR£SS AND CARE OF THE FEET 23 
 
 it is by no means wonderful that this joint becomes subject 
 to a continual inflammation, which by extending to the 
 bones must, in this situation, produce permanent and pain- 
 ful swellings, which become, in their turn, and even from 
 slight causes, the source of inflammations and new growths 
 of bone. 
 
 " In this manner arise those unseemly and painful 
 swellings at the root of the great toe, which, either from 
 mistaking their true nature, or from wilful deception, are 
 called * chilblains,' or ' gout,' just as one or the other term 
 appears the most interesting. In many cases, moreover, 
 this kind of inflammation of the bones, and their investing 
 membrane, may lead to the formation of matter, and 
 eventually to the disease known as ' caries^ or ulceration 
 of the bofie" 
 
 Narrow-toed shoes furnish another influence strongly 
 operating to produce large joints. The great toe is drawn 
 farther than usual toward the others, and its joint thrown 
 out in the opposite direction. All the toes are more 
 crowded, until some of them are forced out of place while 
 corns and grown- in nails are developed or made worse. 
 Width at the ball alone will not prevent these effects. 
 French and English styles are in this respect often perni- 
 cious. The whole tendency of narrow toes is toward de- 
 formity ; and those who cannot because they happen 
 to be the style, refuse to wear them, should make up 
 their minds to accept the consequences with a good 
 grace. 
 
24 DJ?£SS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 Another great cause of the prominence and swelling of 
 the joint — which our author alludes to, but gives it hardly 
 any of its real importance— is the backward pressure of 
 the toe by shoes that are too short. This, in addition 
 to causing sore nails, crowds the toes still more closely 
 together, and pushes the joint still farther inward, away 
 from its proper place. To illustrate. 
 
 %a 
 
 i ^ 
 
 Fig. lo. Fig. ii. 
 
 a, Phalanges, or Bones of the Toe ; b, Metatarsal Bone ; 
 c, Joint. 
 
 Supposing these to represent the bones of the great 
 toe and its metatarsal bone — which, in their normal posi- 
 tion, are on the same line — we can see that if the toe 
 bones ^z are bent toward the other toes first, and- then 
 pushed backward, it necessarily forces out the joint in the 
 only direction in which it can bend, which is inward. 
 The greater and more constant the pressure against the 
 end of the toe by the short boot or shoe, the larger the 
 joint, and the more it will project from the inside of the 
 foot ; the more liable also to soreness, swelling, corns, 
 bunions, inflammation, and settled disease, and the more 
 
I 
 
 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 25 
 
 awkward, ill-shaped, and uncomfortable, not only to walk 
 with but to look upon. 
 
 High heels also do their share toward bringing on this 
 deformity. They cause the foot to pitch downward on 
 the toes, sometimes pushing it a size farther forward inta 
 the boot than it would go if the heel was only moderateh^ 
 high, thus creating the necessity for a longer boot. 
 The crowding of the toes is increased; mid as they meet 
 with resistance or a backward pressure from both sides 
 and the end of the shoe^ at the same time that there is a 
 fo7^wa7'dpressu7'efrom the heel by the weight of the body, 
 of course the angle forfned at the Joint must be pushed [otit 
 more a cute ^ the foot making room for itself by stretching 
 and treading over the upper at the sides. 
 
 There is a peculiarity about the Phuner last recommend- 
 ing it in this particular. The heel, on the bottom, is quite 
 convex, which allows the heel of the foot to settle down 
 into that of the boot more than usual, and thus what appears 
 to be a high heel, outside, feels, on the foot, to be no higher 
 than one made upon ordinary lasts an eighth of an inch 
 lower. There is hence so much less pressure upon the 
 ends of the toes. 
 
 A false habit, tending in the same direction, is that of 
 changing the shoes of children to make them wear evenly 
 or prevent their treading over to one side at the heel. It 
 is a practice productive of far more harm than good— a 
 saving of shoe-leather at the foot's expense. After one 
 foot has shaped a shoe to itself to put the other into it 
 
26 DI^/iSS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 forcing the great toe into the curve made by the little toe 
 and 02itside of the foot, must do much toward bending the 
 toe permanently out of place. It should never be allowed 
 or proposed. Give children right and left shoes, and guard 
 against their wearing on one side by good firm counters' 
 It is their right, when obtainable, and anything less is 
 injustice. 
 
 While the foot is growing, it easily adapts itself to its 
 surroundings ; and by wearing short boots and shoes it 
 may be encouraged to grow into a bad shape in a few years. 
 Most old people have joints deformed in this way. We 
 have also seen them on the feet of young and beautiful 
 women, where they seemed most sadly out of place. Young 
 feet are often forced to grow into uncomely shape through 
 the good intentions of parents, whose falsely-taught in- 
 stinct of beauty induces them to put as small a shoe on 
 the child's foot as it will bear, fearing that if left to itself 
 it will grow too long, or too wide, to be elegant in form. 
 The motive of this action is most commendable, but its 
 wisdom extremely doubtful and weak. Beauty, taste, ele- 
 gance, are to be sought for everywhere and always. We 
 have not the least sympathy \with any attempt to depreciate 
 them. But they are not to be sought by counteracting 
 nature. On the contrary, nature is most trustworthy. If 
 not interfered with, she will make the foot grow in due pro- 
 portion to the size of the whole body ; and every part will 
 be developed in the right proportion to itself. 
 
 " Children of a larger growth" continue to carry out the 
 
I 
 
 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 27 
 
 same false idea by wearing as short and narrow a boot as 
 they can squeeze their foot into with any degree of comfort. 
 While the object is to obtain a handsome foot, all such 
 cramping inevitably defeats its purpose. The effect which 
 it invaribly has and must have^ is to make the joints pro- 
 ject, and addfro7n one-fourth to three fou7'ths of an inch 
 to the foot's width, leaving out of account the torture ac- 
 companying the process. Nobody will claim that large 
 joints and extra width at this point make a good-looking 
 foot, but they are the sure results, in greater or less degree 
 according to the severity of the pinching, and the length 
 of the time it is continued. 
 
 It is well to ascertain if stockings do not have some effect 
 in giving a bad shape to this part of the foot, although 
 made of such yielding materials that they may at first 
 thought, appear harmless. Mr. James Dowie, in a work 
 published in England some years since, speaking of the 
 toes being cramped, crowded, bent, and piled over each 
 other, attributes part of this result to the stocking, and re- 
 commends the wearing of one having toes on it — similar 
 to the fingers on a glove. There is no reason to doubt 
 that this conclusion is correct, for while a stocking that 
 is loose may be drawn into almost any shape to suit the 
 toes, one which is tight, shorty and narrow-toed, must, and 
 does, draw the toes together and keep them so, however 
 favourable may be the form of the boot outside. It is a 
 fact, too, that stockings are narrow and pointed at the toe ; 
 almost universally. The suggestion of putting toes to them 
 
28 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 is a good one. But if this is thought to be taking too 
 much pains with such an article — though it is evidently 
 impossible to take too much pains in dressing any part of the 
 body so as to protect it from being injured in any manner 
 — it is perfectly easy to make the stocking wider at this 
 part, leaving it nearly square^ or with only a slight round- 
 ness at the end. This would be a very decided improve- 
 ment, and cannot be urged too strongly.* 
 
 Like the defects of the shoe, those of the stocking must 
 be felt more seriously by children. They are ignorant of 
 the matter, and would be careless and inattentive even if 
 they were not. But if parents will half do their duty by 
 them, there is no reason why they should not grow up 
 with well-formed feet, thankful for the care which has saved 
 them from distortion and blessed them with pedal come- 
 liness. 
 
 There is here, also, a question of the comparative taste 
 and elegance of wide and narrow soles, which needs a 
 little discussion. It is the practice with many persons to 
 wear as narrow a boot or shoe as they can, thinking we 
 suppose, that if they have not a narrow foot, they onghf 
 to have, and that by putting it into a narrow boot they 
 prevent it from spreading. As such a boot is and will be 
 narrow at the toe, the effect is jnst the opposite of that in- 
 tended as in the case of short ones. The toes are drawn 
 together, and the ball pushed out wider tha?i before. Then 
 besides this tendency to make it wider, the foot looks 
 
 * We have lately seen stockings for sale that were nearly square- 
 toed, and these should obtain the preference in buying. 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 29 
 
 wider in a shoe that is too narrow for it, because it treads 
 the upper overj and the narrow toe makes it appear all the 
 wider by contrast. A foot that is narrow may wear a 
 narrow-soled shoe with propriety ; for a wide one to 
 attempt to do so is fooHsh. We have seen a lady's boot 
 trodden over so far that a hole had been worn through the 
 tipper on each side of the sole by its contact with the 
 ground. The wearer doubtless thought it was necessary 
 for her to wear a narrow sole to prevent her foot from 
 spreading, and keep it in an elegant shape. She did not 
 know that she was taking the most direct way to defeat 
 her object, and that her true policy would have been to 
 wear the widest-soled shoe she could get. This case was 
 extreme, but it is quite common to see the upper worn 
 through on one side from the same cause. The right kind 
 of shoe for a wide foot is one so wide on the sole that the 
 upper will project over it on the sides but slightly, and with 
 as great a width of the toe, ifi proportion to the ball, as 
 there would be in a 7ia?^row one. Such a shoe will 7nake 
 the foot appear narrower, by contrast, than it really is 
 and the greater the width of the toe, the more this effect 
 is produced. Besides, the shoe or boot keeps its p7'oper 
 shape much better and longer when not too narrow or too 
 short. If the foot be short proportionately, as well as 
 wide, the covering should be of good length — at least a 
 full size to spare at the toe, after being worn a few days 
 and fitted, or broken in. These doctrines may not be 
 readily accepted, but let any one who doubts give them a 
 
30 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 trial, and we are willing to be judged by the opinion formed 
 afterward. 
 
 There arc those who appear to urge the idea that broad 
 soles are eminently proper always, and for everybody, 
 which doctrine we do not endorse ; but we mean to say 
 that persons who have wide feet naturally, or who have 
 made them wide at the joints in the vv^ays here pointed out, 
 ought to wear wide soles. It is also quite certain that if 
 people wore soles of the correct shape from childhood 
 there would be a far less number than now of those feet, 
 that require this extra width of sole, for nine-tenths of 
 them are forced into a width which they would not have 
 by nature^ and, when once deformed, no pains taken in 
 fitting them can make them look well., or like those which 
 keep their proper shape. 
 
 A narrow foot must not be confounded with a slim one. 
 Feet that are slim — that measure less than an average in 
 circumference — are often found wider than most of those 
 of the same length which are of medium size or fulness. 
 These are feet that spread^ and may generally be found on 
 individuals of spare or muscular temperament. Such per- 
 sons ought to wear boots made on wide lasts, with wide 
 toes, though at the same time sufficiently slim to fit. As 
 such lasts cannot easily be found ready-made, those 
 having feet of this shape ought to possess a pair made 
 expressly for themselves. 
 
 There is an opposite style of feet, those which are long 
 and narrow, while they may be also full^ or thick, verti- 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 31 
 
 cally. These are usually found on persons who are tall, 
 yet round, and fleshy in physique. They can wear boots 
 made on lasts that are comparatively narrow, such as may 
 be found at any shoe-shop. It is not intended to argue in 
 favour of any Miinecessary width in either case, but simply 
 to urge the necessity, not only for comfort, hit especially 
 for elegance also, of having sufficient width to accommo- 
 date the foot easily, aud preserve the natural shape of 
 both the foot and its covering. 
 
 Bad fashions of lasts have had much to do in producing 
 a deformed condition of the feet, as well as the false ideas 
 and tastes of the people. Shoemakers, and more especially 
 last-makers, who should have studied the nature of the 
 foot, and given the people, who looked to them for a cor- 
 rectly-shaped last and shoe, something truly and naturally 
 adapted' to its purpose, have failed in this part of their 
 duty. The latter have made lasts of all varieties of shape 
 except the true one, while the maker of the shoe has made 
 a bad matter worse with his high and short heels. 
 
 Formerly the great majority of ladies' shoes and gaiters 
 were made upon lasts that were straight, and the same is 
 true even yet. Almost the whole of the cheaper kinds of 
 work got up in the manufactories is of this style. Slippers 
 are hardly ever seen made upon other than straight lasts. 
 The whole custom is a wrong one, for this reason ; the 
 middle of the toe of shoes made upon straight lasts is 
 nearer to the outside than it is in those made on rights- 
 and-lefts. Hence they draw the great toe farther toward 
 
32 DJ^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 the outside of the foot than do those of the latter kind, 
 a7id have a greater effect in producing all the evils that go 
 with defori7ied toes and joints. No woman ought to be 
 asked to wear them, nor should she allow herself to do so 
 if those of another form can be obtained. Girls whose 
 feet are growing cannot have them forced into straight 
 shoes, especially if tight, without perpetrating a kind of 
 tyranny very similar in character to that of the Chinese. 
 Right-and-left boots and shoes are the natural right of all 
 men, women, and children. Men and boys have, in this 
 respect, the advantage over their sisters, as their foot ap- 
 parel is almost wholly of the better shape. There is no 
 reason why women and girls should not have the benefit 
 of the improvement in form, though it is only a slight one, 
 and they are counselled to take it whenever they can. In 
 fact, there is no excuse for straight shoes, except that they 
 can be made a little more cheaply — that is, there is a little 
 less expense for the lasts used. They do not wear more 
 evenly than the others — on the contrary, they are quite as 
 liable, if not more so, to tread over at the heel. They 
 never fit the foot so well in the hollow, at the instep, or on 
 the side. There is no necessity for their existence, for there 
 is no form of foot-covering but might be made on crooked 
 lasts with equal facility. Ladies' slippers are believed to 
 be the only article that is always made straight, and for 
 these, right-and-left lasts, properly adapted to the purpose, 
 might be used without the least difficulty. Considering 
 vthese facts, and that there is but a slight advantage to the 
 
I 
 
 DJ^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 33 
 
 manufacturer, and to him only, in their production, and 
 that the children and poorer class of women, who wear 
 them — the most helpless classes in the community— are 
 almost compelled to defonn their feet in doing so, it be- 
 comes a disgrace to the shoemaking profession that straight 
 shoes are not abolished. 
 
 Many right-and-left lasts are made so nearly straight that 
 the difference in form, and the benefit arising from it, 
 amount to but very little. This must be remedied by the 
 people learning what is to be desired, and making a de- 
 mand for it. It is sometimes argued that the straighter 
 the last is, the less liable is the foot to tread the boot over 
 to one side ; but this we hold to be a fallacy, and that the 
 liability to tread over, is determined by the shape of that 
 part of the last between the heel and instep. The form of 
 the toe or forward part has nothing to do with the matter. 
 It is generally, however, an advantage to the foot, though 
 not to the boot, if it succeeds in treading the latter over to 
 the oiUside. It thus gives the boot a more distinctly right- 
 and-left shape, and can hence more easily preserve its own. 
 When it goes over inside, there is a good prospect of a 
 big joint being soon produced. 
 
 The last-makers have given us toes of many styles, from 
 the turn-up toes an inch longer than necessary, to the stub- 
 toes half an inch shorter than the foot ; and from .the 
 round toe narrowed to a point, to the square one nearly or 
 quite as wide as the ball. All that needs to be said of 
 them is, that the wider they are, except the extreme just 
 
 3 
 
34 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 noted, the better for the foot, at least while the present 
 lasts are in use,. and generally the handsomer also ; that the 
 long toe is unnecessary, and therefore unhandsome ; while 
 the short or stub toe is decidedly awkward and clumsy- 
 looking, besides being injurious to the foot, and utterly un- 
 worthy of toleration by any person of sense or taste. The 
 true and most tasteful shape will be found near the half- 
 way point between the two extremes in each direction. 
 Whether round or square is of no material consequence. 
 
 Here, then, we have found several causes for the de- 
 formities of the forward part of the foot — the crooked great 
 toe, the cramped and distorted smaller ones, the corns 
 between, the grown-in nails, the big joint, and the increased 
 width. The cause first operating to produce them is the 
 wrong shape of the shoe at the inside, which gives the 
 oblique position to the great toe. Narrowness and short- 
 ness are stronger influences acting in the same direction, 
 aided still further by extreme height of heels, by changing, 
 by narrow-toed stockings, etc. And it is especially worthy 
 of being noticed that the short and narrow toes, and the 
 high heels often adopted to improve the foot's appearance^ 
 do thus inevitably defeat that purpose. 
 
 The attention of those who regard their own foot-com- 
 fort is earnestly directed to the points and reasoning pre- 
 sented in this chapter. Just as earnestly it is desired that 
 those w^hose principal aim in dressing the foot is its beauty, 
 elegance, and perfection of form, should give a thorough 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 35 
 
 iconsideration to what has been said. Both classes will 
 easily see that, in order to gain the object sought, there 
 
 lust be a reform in the shape and style of the foot's 
 covering. The nature of that improvement is already 
 partially shown — that is, as far as the toes are concerned 
 
 -and will be shown fully in what is to follow.' 
 The cuts below, showing some of the worst deformities 
 of the forward part of the foot, and adding the force of 
 illustration to what has been said, are an appropriate con- 
 clusion to this chapter. It will do no harm to contrast 
 them with Fig. 8 and Fig. 3, previously given. 
 
 Fig. 13. 
 
 k 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Prevention of Deformed Toes and Joint — New Forms of Sole — 
 Eureka Last^True Standard of Taste — How Distorted Great 
 Toe may be Straightened — Ancient and Medieval Foot-apparel — 
 Suggestions. 
 
 T ET us next endeavour to ascertain what shall be done 
 tov/ard substituting an improved form of covering 
 for the present false style, as a method of prevetiting dis- 
 tortion of the toes and the evils connected with it ; and 
 also inquire how far these deformities can be reheved by 
 proper effort after they have been induced. 
 
 The shape of sole previously described and illustrated 
 (Fig. 7) is taken to be as near the absolutely correct one 
 as anything that can now be devised, and to be approxi- 
 mated and reahzed as soon in the future as possible. It 
 is true that people should be capable of recognizing its 
 correctness, and of adopting it practically, at once ; and, 
 doubtless, there are some who can conscientiously disre- 
 gard the strong tendency to conformity with the prevailing 
 false styles, and wear a boot or shoe which represents the 
 
^)RESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 37 
 
 right idea, or one as near to it as it is possible for them to 
 obtain. All such are earnestly advised to take this course, 
 and continue it, both for their own good, and as a means 
 of developing a sentiment in favour of the change. 
 
 But there are other people, in larger numbers, who will 
 not be persuaded to attempt so much of a change without 
 some encouragement from popular sympathy. These 
 must not only be taught to know what is right and wTong 
 in the matter, but be led to adopt the right through gradu- 
 ally approximating steps, that do not vary so far from the 
 style at any time prevalent as to be unpleasantly odd. 
 The eye must become accustomed to different forms, and 
 first to those that deviate least from the present fashion. 
 Bearing this in mind, what is the best improvement that 
 can be made generally acceptable ? 
 
 Our principal care is the preservation of the shape of 
 the great toe and inside joint, not forgetting that the little 
 toe is also entitled to care ; still, the great one is much the 
 most important, and if only one can be properly attended 
 to, the little one must w^ait its opportunity. Its deformity 
 consists in being bent and twisted under, and though the 
 pressure causing this may also develop corns, and injury 
 of the toe joint, the joint itself is not forced out of place, 
 nor is the bad effect so common, nor so serious as in the 
 case of the large one. 
 
 Figure 14 represents the sole of a crooked last, such as 
 may occasionally be seen in use by some of our best boot- 
 makers at the present time. Contrasted with the one be- 
 
38 
 
 DJ^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 
 
 side it, which is a pretty fair specimen of right-and-left 
 lasts generally, it is evidently nearer to the true form. In 
 
 Fig. 14.— Compromise. 
 
 Fig. 15.— Common Sole. 
 
 it, the line drawn from the middle of the heel to the 
 middle of the ball region passes through the toe nearest 
 the outside corner, leaving the greater space at the inside ; 
 while in the other the line passes through the toe at the 
 middle, thus m.aking it virtually only a straight last, hol- 
 lowed out a little the most at the inner side. For the 
 purpose of giving the great toe a straight position, it is 
 seen at a glance that the form of Fig. 14 is far superior 
 to that of Fig. 15, though the tendency to distortion 
 would still remain with it to a considerable extent. For 
 the sake of a name to distinguish it, this may be called 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 39 
 
 the Compromise. It is not so much in advance of the 
 common styles that many people would notice the differ- 
 ence at all, and last-makers and shoe manufacturers 
 might adopt it, and with a slight effort force it into general 
 use, with great benefit to those feet that are still tolerably 
 Avell-shaped, if not to their own direct advantage. At 
 least, the acceptance of it is one step in the right direc- 
 tion for those who are not ready to make a more radical 
 innovation. 
 
 Our next form is something better. The reason for it 
 is the rule given, some fifty or sixty years ago, by Dr. Peter 
 Camper, of Amsterdam, who wrote an essay on the sub- 
 ject, in which he stated that the proper forin of shoe was 
 such as to allow all the toes to lie parallel with a line 
 drawn through the middle of the sole from heel to toe. 
 
 This, though not perfect, was, considering its date, a 
 pretty good standard ; but the shoemakers, if they were 
 ever governed by it at all, have transgressed it since, 
 imtil its intention has been entirely defeated. They 
 have done this by narrowing the toe of the sole so much 
 that the toes of the foot, instead of lying parallel to each 
 other and to the line of the foot's length, have had their 
 ends drawn together at an angle till they were compelled 
 even to lie one over the other. 
 
 When the toes lie as closely together as they can with- 
 out crowding — parallel, the middle ones at least, to the 
 line of the foot's length — there is but little variation on 
 the inside of the foot from a straight line. The cuts 16 
 
40 
 
 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FE^T. 
 
 and 17 represent, one a foot in which the toes are drawn 
 together just enough to touch, and one as they usually 
 appear in the common boot. 
 
 Here it may be observed that in Fig. 16 the Hnes drawn 
 
 Fig. 16.— Toes Parallel. Fig. 17.— Toes Drawn to an Angle, 
 
 past the sides of the toes are nearly parallel to the line 
 through the foof s centre, while in Fig. 1 7 they quickly 
 form an angle with it. 
 
 Dr. Camper's rule, strictly interpreted, would have 
 made a right-and-left last of the most extreme charac- 
 ter, but by narrowing the toe from inside and outside 
 alike, it was converted into one no better than straight. 
 What is [now proposed is, that we take this rule and 
 amend it by providing that wlieii the inside of the sole has 
 the right fo7in to let the great toe lie parallel to the line 
 th7'07igh the viiddle^ any further narrozving of the toe shall 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 41 
 
 be done from the outside ojifyj and as the ball of the last 
 projects slightly over the bottom or sole, it is conceived 
 that the inside margin of the sole should be nothing less 
 than straight, and parallel to the line of the foof s length, 
 from the ball forward, in order to give the great toe the 
 position claimed. This would make a last a httle more 
 straight on the inside than the one described as the 
 
 Fig. 18.— Sole of Excelsior Last. 
 
 Compromise. We will call it the Excelsior^ and represent 
 it by a diagram, Fig. 18. 
 
 Our reason for insisting that the toe be narrowed only 
 from the outside is the fact already stated, that the conse- 
 quences of bending the great toe are far worse than those 
 
42 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 of bending the little ones. Besides, it is not intended to 
 draw them together any farther than to make them touch, 
 and this can be done without distorting any of them, by 
 leaving the great one in its natural position, or nearly so, 
 and making all the curve of the sole on the outside. The 
 outside toes being shortest, they permit this to be done 
 without bending them more than a very little. Of course 
 it must be remembered that the sole cannot be narrowed 
 beyond a certain limit without injury to the foot. A me- 
 dium width of toe is the narrowest that is allowable, con- 
 sistently with the object we have in view. 
 
 The last-maker will understand that the thickest part of 
 the toe of the last is not to be at the middle, but at the 
 inside, in order to give room for the great toe in the 
 straight-ahead position claimed for it. At the ball the 
 wood is expected to project, as in all lasts, ver}^ slightly 
 over the bottom. 
 
 This is, perhaps, the best form — the nearest approach 
 to that of the foot — which is practically attainable while 
 the modern boot and shoe retain their present peculiarity, 
 of a sole narrower at the toe than at the ball. On the 
 whole, it is probably equal or superior to that recom- 
 mended by Prof. Meyer, for though his is more crooked, 
 giving larger latitude to the great toe, it is a question if 
 it does not, by the extreme curve, tend to cramp the little 
 ones more than necessary, thus making a balance between 
 a good point and a bad one. Prof. Meyer's form may be 
 best for certain feet, and for a particular purpose, as will 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 43 
 
 Be explained in speaking of the remedy for crooked toes, 
 but for general purposes we have more faith in this. If it 
 were adopted in general use, and more especially for the 
 shoes of children, and those who have not yet seriously 
 deformed their feet at the joint, the next generation would 
 show that crooked toes, soft corns, inverted nails, big 
 joints, and bunions had been almost abolished. Such a 
 result is entirely worthy of a noble effort on the part of 
 those who furnish foot coverings. Such an effort, too, 
 when made, will surely be seconded by the growing in- 
 telligence of the whole people, who will be constantly 
 learning a better appreciation of the reform. It is to be 
 hoped that manufacturers and wearers will both see what 
 is for their credit and interest, and unite in securing its 
 realization. 
 
 But it will not do to be content with what is, after all, 
 only a rough approximation to the perfect form, for, supe- 
 rior as is the Excelsior last to all the existing shapes, it is 
 still but a transition to one more complete and more per- 
 manently enduring. Like all the others, it fails to give 
 the outside toes a chance to keep their natural form. 
 The foot, in its normal condition, does not very closely 
 resemble any of the shapes that have here been illus- 
 trated. It is only after it has been distorted that there 
 appears any real fitness between it and the shoe. The 
 forward part of the foot is wider than the middle ; but 
 this fact is not recognized in making its covering. Even 
 Prof. Meyer is no more consistent than others, as may 
 
44 
 
 DRBSS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 
 
 be seen by contrasting one of the specimens of natural 
 feet which he shows us with the sole of a shoe such as 
 he Avould have it clothed with. As exhibited in the cuts 
 below, is there any good correspondence between the two, 
 except that both have a general straightness upon the 
 inside ? 
 
 Fig. 19.— Meyer's Form of Sole. Fig. 20.— Natural Foot. 
 
 The foot is a wide one, and the shoe-sole rather nar- 
 row ; but this need not be taken into account, for the 
 same want of harmony would exist if the widths were 
 alike. A narrow foot, however, may be seen by reference 
 to Fig. 8, in a preceding chapter. 
 
 The only way out of this awkward inconsistency is the 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 45 
 
 acceptance of the form before suggested, and here repro- 
 duced (Fig. '21) to be compared with its competitors. 
 
 Fig. 21.— Eureka. 
 
 This has all the merits of any of them, and the addi- 
 ^tional one that it allows as much freedom to the toes at 
 the ^7//side of the foot as to those at the ///side. All have 
 a chance, provided other things are as they should be, to 
 develop normally and to perform their functions without 
 interference. There is an agreement beween it and the 
 foot, not only on one side, but on both sides and all 
 ..around. It represents completely the idea of Dr. Cam- 
 per, which cannot be done by anything of the narrow-toed 
 form. By a very slight addition to the width from the 
 .ball forward, on the inside, it also represents the idea of 
 
46 D/^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 Prof. Meyer. So far as we can see, it fulfils all the re- 
 quirements that can be made concerning Xh^ form of sole. 
 It is proposed to name it the Eiireka, 
 
 If a requirement were made that it should agree with 
 the present popular taste, this pattern would signally faiL 
 But though it does not do this, still, if it corresponds with 
 the true form of the foot, and possesses the merits claimed^ 
 its excellence will, in time, be acknowledged, and public 
 taste will come to see its elegance also. If there is any 
 reason at all why a thing is beautiful, that reason consists 
 in its fitness or propriety ; and if there is any shape more 
 fit and proper for a sole that is to be trod upon by an 
 undeformed foot, will some one discover it and make it 
 known. 
 
 Taste comes, at least to a great extent, from education. 
 The teaching of China creates a taste which admires a 
 short, stumpy, small, useless foot, as beautiful on a lady. 
 In more enlightened countries a more intelligent taste 
 condemns such a foot as anything else than elegant. A 
 still better educated taste will admire only one that is 
 entirely normal ; and to bring opinion up to this standard 
 is the object of effort. People are to learn that pointed 
 toes and big joints are not natural ; that they do not 
 come of themselves, and that the foot-gear which pro- 
 duces them cannot have any propriety or beauty. The 
 various long-toed, narrow-toed, broad-toed, stub-toed, 
 short-heeled, thick-soled, stiff, awkward things that are 
 worn by the masses must be seen to be, as they are, unfit 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 47 
 
 coverings to be put upon a decent human foot. Shapes, 
 styles, and fashions must be judged by their harmony or 
 want of harmony with natural requirements, and accepted 
 or rejected accordingly. There must be less deference to 
 an unreasoning, arbitrary opinion, and more of original 
 thought and independent action ; though it could hardly 
 be supposed that for such a matter any great amount of 
 personal independence would be required. A different 
 set of views and tastes will thus, however, be substituted 
 for the present ones, as the work of time and a more ge^ 
 neral knowledge of the subject. 
 
 There is no difficulty in starting a revolutionary move- 
 ment. Any of the proposed forms of lasts can be obtained 
 from the lastmakers of the large cities — all but the Eureka 
 very readily — and often the shoemaker himself, if ingenious, 
 can provide them for individual feet by altering' some of 
 those now in nse, ' 
 
 This is not so very difficult when the last has sufficient 
 thickness at the toe. At the inside, from the ball forward,, 
 it may be shaved or rasped off enough to give a plane sur- 
 face half an inch or more in width, a shoulder being cut 
 at the commencement near the ball. Successive layers of 
 firm, solid sole-leather are then pegged or nailed very 
 strongly to the wood without splitting it, each thickness 
 separately, to make the work more firm, until enough are 
 on to bring the corner out where it should be, when they 
 are rasped into the form required. Nails must not be 
 driven in the outside pieces. The opposite side of the toe 
 
48 BJ^BSS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 may be narrowed, curved, and thinned to^^give the whole 
 the proper shape. 
 
 There is no reason why those persons who are capable 
 of appreciating the doctrine of this treatise should not set 
 an example worthy of imitation ; and as the abuses com- 
 plained of are so very common, it is quite probable they 
 might soon find themselves in the company of a large 
 number. Ultimately, it is expected that something not 
 less perfect than the form last proposed, and having all 
 the qualities desirable in a model shoe, will be universally 
 adopted. 
 
 There will still remain to be discovered a mode of 
 covering the foot which will secure to it all its natural 
 freedom. What this will be it is not easy, just now, to 
 tell. Possibly it may take the peculiarity of the glove, 
 and provide separate apartments for each of the toes, 
 becoming thus a kirwi of foot-glove, with a flexible sole, 
 separated between the toes, and which will allow them to 
 bend or spread, and the whole foot to lengthen or contract 
 without hindrance whenever occasion may require. It 
 will be an article of luxury, rather than otherwise, and 
 there is no prospect of its immediate production. Yet such 
 an one cannot, without difficulty, perhaps, be made suf- 
 ficiently thick to be a good protection against dampness 
 and the coldest weather. Some compromise, with the 
 existing style of boot will become necessary, though a 
 shape better adapted to the comfort of the toes may be 
 given to the forward part of it, as by the time it is made? 
 
If DJ^£SS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 49 
 
 he cramping, narrow-toed boot will be out of favour ; and 
 this brings us again to the Eureka as the most appropriate 
 form. 
 
 What, now, can be done toward the cure of crooked 
 toes and enlarged joints after they have been induced? 
 The way of their prevention is ah*eady made plain, but to 
 remove the disfigurement after it has become a settled thing 
 is a much more difficult matter. The toe must be forced 
 back to its former position, and kept there by a steady, 
 constant pressure, and the parts be allowed time to gradu- 
 ally re-adapt themselves and grow fixed in their proper 
 shape. The straightening of the toe will allow the bones 
 to come nearer together at the joint, and this, when not 
 sore, may perhaps be pushed back slightly, toward the 
 middle of the foot, by the pressure of a narrow boot. As 
 this process is the exact opposite of that by which the de- 
 formity is developed, it ought, with proper time, patience, 
 and th6roughness, to be tolerably successful. Dr. Meyer 
 even leaves it to be inferred that toes which are not badly 
 distorted will gradually re-assume their primarj'- position 
 withotU. any assistance^ provided the shoe is of the right 
 form, with plenty of room at the end, and the stocking is 
 not allowed to prevent. 
 
 For straightening the toe it would seem that some effi- 
 cient mechanical contrivance could be easily arranged, 
 but as yet there is nothing entirely satisfactory. To be 
 completely successful it ought to be something that can 
 
 4 
 
50 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 be easily fastened to the bare foot, so that all the toes may 
 be brought to their proper place before covering with the 
 stocking. But there is a difficulty in making the little toe, 
 or even more than one of them, act as a point of support 
 from which a force can be brought to bear against the 
 great one. So, while unable to do better, this stationaiy 
 point must be found in the sole of the shoe. The best 
 thing we have been able to discover is a simple plate of 
 metal, standing upright between the great toe and its 
 neighbour, so securely fastened to the insole as to prevent 
 the toe from inclining toward the side. Of course nothing 
 can be done in a boot or shoe of the common form, as in 
 such a one the toe cannot be straightened by any means 
 whatever. The last on which it is made must be one like 
 that described as the Excelsior, or, what is still better for 
 this case, one of the form proposed by Dr. Meyer. There 
 is no danger of going to an extreme in so shaping the last 
 as to turn the toe inward,ibecause, the toe, after being fas- 
 tened at its end, tends strongly to resume its old, deformed 
 position by pushing the upper over the edge of the sole at 
 the joint. It thus partially defeats the object, and will be 
 straightened less than the form of the last (and shoe) in- 
 dicates that it ought to be. Hence it is well not to let the 
 ball of the last project over the bottom, and thus try to 
 keep back the joint from pushing over the upper of the 
 shoe. And, even if the last is crooked inward at the toe 
 a little more than Meyer^s rule directs, there will be no 
 harm. It should also be well hollowed or curved on the 
 
DA'F.SS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 51 
 
 inside, at the region back of the ball and above the shank. 
 The more the wood is taken off here, the more the foot 
 will be thrown toward the outside of the shoe, or made 
 to tread outside, and this will somewhat counterbalance 
 the tendency which the toe has, when the end of it is 
 made stationary, to push the joint and whole foot to- 
 ward the inside. The crookedness will appear extreme, 
 and perhaps ridiculous, but it will be found in practice 
 that it takes a very crooked shoe to make a big toe 
 straight. 
 
 We believe, however, that this tendency of the toe and 
 joint to keep their old position by treading over inside 
 can be counteracted by putting a low counter or stiffening 
 of sole-leather into the upper of the shoe at the ball, in 
 the same way a similar one is inserted at the heel. Or, if 
 the joint is too sensitive to be touched by stiff leather, let 
 the stiffening piece be placed just back of the ball, in the 
 shank. The top part of it must be thinned, while the 
 bottom part remains thick and firm. It has not been 
 fairly tried, but if the joint is not sore it can hardly fail 
 to be effective. 
 
 It should be tx. false insole to which the partition or 
 separator is fastened, so that it can be easily changed, 
 because there is some difficulty in fitting it exactly right 
 the first time, and, besides, the wearer may wish, even 
 when it suits as well as possible, to remove it and give the 
 toe a resting-spell in its old position ; while if the partition 
 is secured to the proper insole of the boot, it must remain 
 
 4—2 
 
52 
 
 D/^JSSS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 there, whether right or wrong, and in the latter case the 
 boot will be worthless. 
 
 A strip of thick tin, half or three-fourths of an inch wide, 
 and two and a half inches long, is all that is required for 
 the material. If preferred, it may be of thin sheet iron 
 or sheet brass. Any tinsmith will furnish it, bent and 
 doubled into the form represented in the diagram. 
 
 Fig. 22. — Separator. 
 
 The upright part is five-eighths or three-fourths of an 
 inch high, according to the thickness of the toes. A cut 
 is made in the insole, and this part put through, while the 
 ends are fastened to the under-side of the sole by some 
 very small-headed tacks, such as every shoemaker has 
 upon his bench, or can readily procure, and can drive 
 after making holes through the tin with a sharp-pointed 
 peg-awl, clinching their points on his lap-iron ; or if the 
 part goes through snugly, there is no real need of fasten- 
 ing at all. It is best not to set the partition very far back 
 from the end of the toe, because at the first joint there is 
 but a thin covering of flesh to guard the bone from being 
 hurt. The exact place for it must be determined by care- 
 
fully measuring the foot, while the toe ts kept straight by 
 the hand, and afterward measuring the same length on the 
 insole, with the size-stick ; the width of the toe, as well as 
 the foot's length, being also taken, and in the same way. 
 To make sure that it shall not chafe the toe, the partition 
 or separator may be covered neatly with cloth, or with a 
 piece of thin sheepskin or kid leather. The following cut 
 shows it when ready to be put into the shoe. 
 
 Fig. 23. — Insole with Separator. 
 
 The edges and corners of the separator need to be 
 smoothly rounded, and the forward upright corner may 
 be lowered by filing off, if desired, to prevent its showing 
 against the upper. It should not be wider or thicker at 
 its forward part, that is, it should not be triangular- 
 
54 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 shaped,* so as to separate the toes more at the ends than 
 farther back, for if so it would prevent the smaller ones 
 from straightening out to correspond, with the large one. 
 The large toe often pushes the smaller ones to the outside 
 — part of them, at least — and when the great toe is re- 
 stored to straightness the smaller ones should be allowed 
 to follow it, as they will be inclined to do, while the curve 
 of the shoe on the outside tends also to push them back 
 toward the inside. Almost anything between them will 
 keep them apart temporarily, as for the purpose of giving 
 ease to a sore joint, where there is no intention to con- 
 tinue the improvement. 
 
 When the shoe is made ready there may still be some 
 difficulty about getting the foot into it. There must first 
 be a toe made in the stocking ; which can be done in a 
 rough way by sewing two parallel seams, an eighth of an 
 inch or so apart, from the end of the stocking to a depth 
 equal to the length of the great toe, of sufficient wddth to 
 give room for it, and then cutting down between these 
 seams with the scissors. The stocking should itself be of 
 
 * There is no objection to this form in particular cases where it is 
 desired to go to an extreme in straightening the toe, provided that 
 side of the separator next the small toes be kept straight, and the in- 
 crease of width made to throw the great one still farther inward. It 
 may be done by filing off the forward corner of the upright portion 
 till its two sides are separated nearly back to the opposite corner, 
 when a wedge of leather can be inserted to keep them apart. There 
 must be plenty of room in the upper, or the pressure of such a sepa- 
 rator may create soreness at the nail. ^ 
 
DJ^FSS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 55 
 
 good width, to give space for the smaller toes to be sepa- 
 rated also. An ingenious woman would probably find a 
 better way of making the toe, but this will answer if 
 necessary. Then, if the joint is not too stiff, or the toe 
 too much bent aside, it can be kept straight while going 
 into the boot by the fingers of one hand pressing against 
 it outside of the upper leather ; and when this is the case 
 the foot may be clothed in any kind of a boot or shoe, and 
 no difficulty will be experienced in putting it on. A man's 
 calf boot maybe drawn on in this w^ay the first time it is 
 worn. 
 
 But when the deformity is too decided to allow of the toe 
 being kept straight by the hand in this manner, a shoe 
 which laces in front must be made, the opening being cut 
 down somewhat lower than usual — as low, in fact, as will 
 answer — though the line of the vamp is still curved so 
 much that the seam will not cross the joints — a direction 
 which the maker will understand. On account of the 
 vamp being so short, the shoe will look better if made 
 rather long for the foot. 
 
 With this the foot can be turned a little, and worked 
 around in such a way as commonly to get the toe to go in 
 on the right side of the partition ; but if there is still dif- 
 ficulty, a pretty sure way of accomplishing the object is to 
 take a yard of tape, ribbon, or something similar, wind it 
 up around the finger into a large, compact wad, and crowd 
 it in between the toes till the great one is well straightened 
 out, taking care to leave one end of the tape hanging out- 
 
S6 D/^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 side the shoe. The toe will then be likely to go into the 
 place made for it, and the tape can be pulled out by its 
 free end before the shoe is fully drawn on. 
 
 A low shoe is still better than a high one for these 
 difficult cases, as the lower it is the more freedom will 
 be allowed to turn the foot one side in entering the 
 toe. 
 
 Even where no trouble of this kind is anticipated, it is 
 still advisable that the first trial be made with a laced shoe 
 —whether high or low is not material — when, if entirely 
 successful, a boot, or a Button gaiter may next be ven- 
 tured ; and to those who cannot feel sufficient faith in 
 these statements to risk a failure on a pair of good shoes,, 
 we recommend that they have a pair made of the poor- 
 est and cheapest materials, and try them as an experi- 
 ment. 
 
 ^ The methods here given of straightening the toe, and 
 the way of making the shoe and getting the foot into 
 it, have been tried with fair success. Great toes that were 
 badly deformed have been brought back so much as ta 
 give the appearance of well-formed feet, without creating 
 any discomfort, and with positive ease and benefit to all 
 the other toes. Of course, the less the distortion, and the 
 less time it has existed, the easier to accomplish the pur- 
 pose. There may be many cases which there would be 
 little use in attempting to reform ; but the great majority 
 can probably be improved ; and though a complete success 
 may not be always attainable, the gain in appearance, ta 
 
say nothing of comfort, ought to be sufficient inducement 
 to make a trial of the plan. 
 
 In some cases an unpleasant feeling to the toe or joint 
 may be occasioned by the change, as might be expected 
 in any change of a similar kind, but it is likely to become 
 less and less till it entirely disappears. 
 
 The greatest direct benefit, however, will doubtless be 
 in the case of bunion or other soreness of the joint, where 
 the straightening of the toe would give immediate relief^ 
 and furnish a motive to continue the new habit. The 
 difficulty of effecting this in the common-shaped shoe is. 
 well known to those who have had occasion to try it.. 
 With the new form it will be comparatively easy. 
 
 Having the great toe corrected, and the smaller ones 
 left free to correct themselves, being also influenced to do 
 so by the curve on the outside of the shoe, there is the 
 best reason to believe that by perseveringly continuing the 
 position for a sufficient length of time, all the parts would 
 return permanently to their natural form. In the worst 
 cases this time might be several years ; in others only as 
 many months. The law that any limb or organ of the body 
 will adapt itself to a change of position is one that cannot 
 be questioned ; the only doubt is as to the extent of the 
 change which may be thus effected. When the foot has 
 been years in growing into a bad shape, it cannot be ex- 
 pected to right itself immediately, though much may 
 depend upon the thoroughness with which the remedy is 
 applied. 
 
58 DJ^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 Prevention, however, is said to be far better than cure. 
 It certainly is in this matter, and, being so easy and sim- 
 ple, there can hardly be any good reason for its neglect. 
 
 As a means of developing some hints that may be of 
 service in originating an article superior to any now worn, 
 as well as a matter of curiosity, and to show some of the 
 elegance formerly existing, we give a few representations 
 
 Fig. 24. 
 Ancient Egyptian. 
 
 Fig. 25. Fig. 26.' 
 
 Roman. Old English 
 
 of the foot-apparel worn in ancient and medieval times. 
 It seems possible there may be some peculiarity about 
 them that can be adopted and made of use for the future. 
 We are indebted for them to Mr. J. S. HalFs " Book of 
 THE Feet." 
 
 The first cut is that of a sandal worn by the aristocracy 
 of Egypt in the earliest ages. There is a fastening over 
 the instep, and another passing from that, to a point 
 
between the great toe and the smaller ones, to prevent 
 slipping toward either side. The foot is a handsome one 
 — evidently that of a lady — and the sandal seems appro- 
 priate to a dry, warm climate, in the days when a partially 
 bare foot had not become disgraceful. 
 
 The second figure represents the cothurtms of the old 
 Romans — a sort of boot-sandal, laced in front down to the 
 roots of the toes, but leaving the toes themselves exposed 
 and free, and with a sole like a sandal, evidently shaped 
 to fit the foot — not the foot to fit //. The sturdy conquer- 
 ors of the world did not, it is plain, beHeve in subjecting 
 their toes to any such tyranny as we impose upon ours. 
 Who can say the foot is not finely formed, although the 
 toes are not drawn together into a pile ? or that the cover- 
 ing is not appropriate, neat, and elegant ? 
 
 Figure 26 shows us a form of shoe in fashion among the 
 nobility of England in the fifteenth century. Though the 
 toe is somewhat lengthy, the shoe is otherwise eminently 
 sensible. We ought to be, and think we are, able to 
 improve upon what was done by our ancestors of four 
 hundred years ago ; yet here is a sole that, notwithstanding 
 its ridiculously long toe, is better adapted to fit the natural 
 foot and preserve its shape than any of those made at the 
 present day. A turn-up toe is not so objectionable, when 
 of moderate length, as it leaves less necessity for a high 
 heel. And if our shoes must have long and narrow toes, 
 something like this is decidedly better^ and no more ridicu- 
 lous, than the cramping, distorting shapes now in use. It 
 
6o DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 is at least extraordinary that Avith all our modern wisdom 
 we are not yet able to produce a better form than any of 
 them. But while waiting for the right thing, if the Paris 
 cordonniers will adopt this, and return it to us duly in- 
 dorsed as the latest orthodox French style, there will 
 be reason for gratitude to them, and for congratulation 
 among ourselves. 
 
 It may be noticed that the form here shown would, if 
 its long toe were taken off, have a strong resemblance to 
 that called the Eu7'eka^ the breadth at the part where the 
 toes lie, being its best and most important point. And 
 thus comparing the Eureka with all the modern shapes of 
 boots and shoes, we are compelled to re-assert that it is 
 not only the best of any for all proper purposes, but that, 
 looked upon with a rightly educated taste — with a know- 
 ledge that the forward part of the foot is, and ought to be, 
 the widest — it is also the most beautiful. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Flattened Condition of the Arch— Beauty of one that is Natural — 
 Nature and Purpose of its Construction — How it Becomes Broken 
 Down — Lengthening of the Foot — Lack of Development — Means 
 of Improvement — Lasts for Flat Feet — Transverse Arch. 
 
 A N OTHER of the prominent disfigurements of the 
 '^^- foot is that commonly known as jflat-foot^ which is 
 seen where the arch of the instep is in a broken-down or 
 flattened condition. This deformity has, if possible, a 
 more awkward and ungraceful effect than that caused by 
 the unnatural position of the toes and joints ; though there 
 may be less painful effects attending it than are attached 
 to the latter. The worst trouble accompanying this kind 
 of disfigurement is the weakness which is attendant upon 
 it, and which is sometimes so extreme as to interfere 
 seriously with walking for any great distance, or standing 
 long at a time ; making itself felt at various periods, as 
 there happens to be a demand for strength and activity. 
 
 It is almost needless to say how unnatural is such a 
 condition. Children are seldom subject to it, except when 
 
62 DRESS AND CARE OE THE EEET. 
 
 connected with weak ankles. Even the children of parents 
 who are notoriously flat-footed have feet that are tolerably 
 well arched. We venture to say that the wild Indian of 
 the native forest was never seen with the beauty of his 
 symmetrical and handsome frame marred by flat feet. 
 There are some of the race who flatten their heads, but 
 they never wear boots, nor heels on their moccasins, and 
 their feet are therefore free from this disagreeable shape. 
 The artist never allows a representation of this deformity 
 to appear in his work ; on the contrary, an arch that is 
 high and well-marked has always been considered beau- 
 tiful. It gives an airiness, elegance, and grace to the 
 appearance of the foot which is as beautiful as the flat 
 foot is ungraceful and awkward. A firm step and upright 
 carriage of the whole body are also generally to be found 
 with the arched instep — never without ; while the flat 
 foot, if not seen, may always be inferred from the unna- 
 tural, shuflling gait of its possessor. 
 
 The high arch is thus beautiful for the same reason 
 that any other organ or part of the body is beautiful — be- 
 cause it is better adapted to perform its intended function 
 or office, which is the support of the weight of the body, 
 this design being more perfectly accomplished when the 
 arch is high, because it is then stronger than when low or 
 flattened. To flatten it is like drawing apart the ends 
 upon which it rests, and this, it is apparent, weakens, if it 
 does not entirely break, the unity and strength of the 
 whole. 
 
DR£SS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 63 
 
 The nature of the construction of the foot in this respect 
 is thus set forth by Prof. Meyer : 
 
 " If the inner aspect of the foot is examined, we find 
 that it is an arch, resting in front on the anterior heads ot 
 the five metatarsal bones, but principally on that of the 
 great toe, and on that of the calcaneum behind. The 
 astragalus forms the key-stone of the arch. 
 
 " The arch is enabled to retain its form by means of 
 strong ligaments or bands passing from one bone to the 
 others, and thus held closely together, sustains the super- 
 incumbent weight of the body without giving way. 
 
 " When we rest on the foot, as in standing, the arch is 
 flattened by the pressure from above, and consequently 
 becomes lengthened. When, however, the foot is allowed 
 to hang free, the cnrvatnre of the arch is mcj'eased. At 
 every step in walking, also, when the foot is raised from 
 the ground, the curvature immediately becomes g7'eater 
 through the action of the muscles,^'' 
 
 This action, it will be readily seen, is precisely that of a 
 spring under a carriage, or other similar vehicle, and 
 seems to have a like intention — that of preventing the 
 transmission of a shock or jar to the joints, and the 
 internal organs of the body above. 
 
 It will be found true, we believe, that in persons of mus- 
 cular temperament — the temperament that gives tall, 
 spare, and angular fonns — the curvature of the arch is 
 greater than in those whose natural disposition of body is 
 toward fleshiness. In the latter case, the muscles of the 
 
64 BJ^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 whole system being weaker, they allow the bones of the 
 foot to separate more easily, and this, consequently, allows 
 the flattening. In other words, we strongly suspect that 
 in this temperament of the body the ligaments are not so 
 dense, firm, and strong as they are in persons whose phy- 
 sical structure is more predominantly muscular. The 
 ligaments which hold the bones together at the joints are 
 not designed to stretch, under ordinary circumstances, but 
 they do yield. when sufficient force is exerted upon them., 
 as in the case of sprains and dislocations, and it is reason- 
 able to infer that they adapt themselves to the demand 
 made upon them. The muscles grow longer and larger, 
 as do also the bones, under circumstances that call for 
 such growth or adaptations to conditions. So do a// the 
 organs and tissues of the body, in greater or less degree ; 
 and if the ligaments do not, they are a plain exception, 
 which is not probable. This being so, a constant strain 
 upon the ligaments of the foot's arch, as in standing for 
 several hours without rest, must cause them to stretch 
 somewhat, allowing the bones to loosen and sink down, 
 while the same severe strain, if continued for a yet longer 
 period, would force them to grow into this lengthened 
 condition, to meet the demand upon them, thus rendering 
 the fault permanent. In persons of fleshy tendency, the 
 natural softness and weakness of the muscles and liga- 
 ments allow them the more easily to give way to the 
 pressure upon the arch. It is believed to be the fact that 
 the deformity is more common among people of this type. 
 
^^B DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 65 
 
 and it will be well for those so constituted to guard against 
 anything that tends to its development. 
 
 It is in persons of the opposite type — those who have 
 firm, close, hard, and strong muscles, and no extra flesh — 
 that the arch is found in its greatest perfection. There 
 the strong muscles and ligaments bind the bones together 
 with such firmness that the arch is enabled longer to 
 resist the influences which tend to break it down. Yet 
 the flat foot is very common, in spite of all nature's efforts 
 for prevention. The deformity, in greater or less degree, 
 may be said to exist as the rule among adult persons, 
 while the natural arch is the exception. Among some 
 classes of people, flat-foot is almost wholly prevalent. 
 Hard toil and degrading conditions not only debase the 
 person morally and intellectually, but they affect the gait 
 and carriage, and their influence may be seen to reach 
 down to the very bottom of the foot. 
 
 It was this fault, possibly, which first suggested the 
 practice of wearing heels, or, if it did not originate, at 
 least continued it. Heels partially restoi^e that elevation 
 a7id airiness of the foot which is given by a natural arch, 
 and which constitutes its grace and beauty. When rightly 
 made, and worn as a choice of two evils, or as a partial 
 remedy for an evil, they are not objectionable ; but they 
 can be only a partial corrective. They can never be sub- 
 stituted for a good arch ; while, worn as they are and have 
 been, they really become one of the causes of the deformity 
 
 5 
 
66 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 which in turn calls for their use. Another cause is thus 
 
 explained in Prof. Meyer's book : 
 
 " Flat-foot is occasioned by the loosening of the liga- 
 ments that knit the foot firmly together, and, by the con- 
 sequent sinking of the arch, the inner aspect of the foot 
 no longer presents the natural hollow in the sole. The 
 causes of such loosening of the ligaments are numerous^ 
 but by far the most frequent, and one readily induced by 
 the ordinary shoe, is weight improperly directed on the 
 arch. If, for example, a shoe happens to be trod- 
 den on one side, and especially, as is most commonly 
 the case, if it be so at the heel, then the heel has no sup~ 
 port, except from the inner margin of the sole, which is 
 thus worn away, and the heel-piece becomes oblique, or,, 
 in other words, lower at one side than the other. In walk- 
 ing and standing on such a heel-piece, the whole external 
 margin of the foot is raised, and the inner, which naturally 
 supports the arch, is so depressed as gradually to lose its 
 convexity, and thus flat-foot is produced." 
 
 The nature of the cause here spoken of seems to be 
 like that of a sprain^ to ,a slight degree, and may be an 
 influential one, but?we doubt that it is the most common 
 cause of that loosening of the ligaments which allows the 
 foot to break down. The most common and efficient ot 
 all the causes of this difficulty, it appears to us, is the 
 sJiort heel which has always been worn on boots and shoes,, 
 and is still, except where an innovation upon its shape has 
 been made within a few years past. This, though not 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 67 
 
 strictly a direct cause, like a strain from above, is the con- 
 dition which most frequently admits and encourages the 
 sinking of the arch. 
 
 That short heels most frequently admit of and encourage 
 the sinking of the arch of the foot will be readily seen by 
 an explanation. There are several bones which, together, 
 form the forward part of the arch, while the back part 
 consists of one larger bone, technically called the calca- 
 neu7n, or os calcts, which makes up the principal part of 
 the heel. Partly above this, and between it and the for- 
 ward bones, is the one called the astragalus^ which is the 
 keystone, being located the highest of any, and the one 
 upon which rest the bones of the leg ; in size it is next to 
 the calcaneum. An illustration will show the position. 
 
 Fig. 27. 
 The inner aspect of the foot, showing the arched construction of 
 the whole foot — a, head of metatarsal bone of great toe, — b, calca- 
 neum, — c, astragalus. 
 
 The forward part of the calcaneum^ or heel-bone, at its 
 lower surface, is somewhat higher than the back part, and 
 has under it a thicker cushion of flesh. When the bare 
 foot treads upon the surface, or when there is no heel upon 
 the shoe-sole, this point — letter e in the diagram — is as 
 well supported as any other, and, being so, enables all the 
 
 5—2 
 
68 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 Other bones to keep their proper places, but when there is 
 a heel on the sole of the shoe, it is not long enough — does 
 not extend under far enough — to support this forward 
 part of the heel-bone. The sole, forward of the heel, is 
 not usually stiff enough to support it, and therefore it falls 
 downward as much as the leather will give way ; the heel- 
 piece being often half an inch too short, and sometimes 
 more than that. Then, if the sole is light, so as to give 
 way easily, there is nothing to prevent this part of the 
 bone from settling down to the extent of a quarter of an 
 inch, or even more. While the back part is supported, 
 the front is turning directly downward. This allows the 
 astragalus and the whole arch to sink down to the same 
 extent, and, in time, all parts of the foot will adapt 
 themselves to their changed condition, and the flat shank 
 become a permanent thing. If any person will examine 
 a slipper worn with a heel, or a boot having an ordinary 
 sole, it will be seen that just in front of the heel the sole 
 is depressed, or bent downward, from one-eighth to three- 
 eighths of an inch. This is almost invariable, except 
 when a very long heel, or a stiff shank in the sole, preserves 
 the natural position of the calcanetmi or bone of which 
 the heel is formed. The amount of this depression shows 
 how much the arch has sunk, and how much higher it 
 would be if properly supported. It indicates very plainly 
 the occasion and origin of a large proportion of the flat 
 and splay feet that may be so frequently observed. 
 
 This inefficiency of the common short heel to properly 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 69 
 
 support the arch was first discovered by Dr. J. C. Plumer, 
 of Boston, to whom is due the credit of showing the bad 
 effects just noticed as the result of its being worn. His 
 style of boot and last will be discussed further on. 
 
 It has been stated that as the foot flattens, it also 
 lengthens. It has been estimated that some flat feet are 
 as much as two sizes, or two-thirds of an inch, longer than 
 the same -feet would be if well arched ; an item worth 
 noticing by those who are fastidious upon this point. 
 
 In falling down, the calcafieum is pushed backward 
 making the long-heeled foot, while the bones forward of 
 the astragalus must advance more or less in their direc- 
 tion, thus adding to the foot's length at both ends, and 
 making the leg appear to be set far toward the middle. 
 The ends must necessarily be separated before the middle 
 of the arch can sink, and this is why its flattening is ac- 
 companied by the long heel. In a foot that is well arched, 
 the projection of bone at the upper part of the heel extends 
 farther back than the lower edge at the sole. In a flat 
 foot, on the contrary, the bottom part extends back farther 
 than the .bony projection above, which, in fact, is pretty 
 sure not to project at all. 
 
 It may be asked, Why not keep the ends of the arch 
 together by 'a boot that is short at both ends, supposing 
 such a one could be made that would not distort the toes ? 
 Simply because it would prevent the 7ise, and consequent 
 st7'ength, of the muscles of the under side of the foot, 
 which arc themselves the natural bands for holding the 
 
70 D/?ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 ends together^ and the whole arch in its raised position. 
 These muscles, being weakened by the cramping of a 
 short boot, would allow the arch to sink whenever the 
 artificial support was taken away. This reasoning seems 
 to indicate such a treatment as one of the causes by which 
 flatness is produced, and as pinching the foot lengthwise 
 has been a common fault, this cause may have been quite 
 effective. 
 
 Dr. Meyer thus refers to another bad influence : 
 " We have already seen that the foot forms an arch, the 
 efficiency of which in a special manner depends on the 
 tensity of its ligaments being maintained. If then, an 
 nnnatural and flattening pressure be constantly exercised 
 on this arch, the binding ligaments get slackened and the 
 arch falls down; a broken-down arch, as we have already 
 seen, causes flat-foot. The pressure of the upper leather 
 on the instep must, therefore, and particularly in the case 
 of narrow boots, favour the origin of this deformity. The 
 same cause must further interfere with locomotion, for at 
 every step the increased arching of the instep, which takes 
 place the moment that the foot is set to [? raised from] the 
 ground is resisted by the upper leather, and an injurious 
 influence is thus exercised on the action of some of the 
 muscles used in walking, and which runs from the anterior 
 aspect of the lower leg to the back of the foot." 
 
 All cramping, binding, and confining of any part of 
 the body weakens it, as is well known to every intelligent 
 reader. Hence the manifest impropriety of wearing any- 
 
DJ^IiSS AND CARL OF THE FEET. 71 
 
 thing unnecessarily tight or binding to the arch of the 
 instep. Every boot that is uncomfortably tight has to 
 some degree the effect of weakening, and rendering it 
 more liable to fall down. 
 
 More especially is this the case when the leather used 
 is thick ^ hard, or stiff. Much of the cheap and inferior 
 goods offered for sale ready-made are seriously objection- 
 able on this account. The uppers themselves are — a 
 large share of them, at least — thick and hard, while the 
 pegged soles are made as stiff as possible, to give the 
 appearance of thick, solid, and serviceable leather in that 
 part. Many a poor man is thus actually hobbled, to a 
 greater or less extent, by the miserable foot-gear his 
 poverty compels him to wear. As there is but very little 
 bend to them, there is btct little use of the mtcscles of the 
 foot. It is cramped or unnaturally pressed upon, even 
 though having plenty of room, and might almost as well 
 be cased in iron as in the stiff kip or cowhide boot or 
 brogan. The result is weakness, flattening, and a ten- 
 dency to other kinds of distortion. We believe the 
 frequency of flat-foot among some of the poorer classes of 
 people may thus be easily accounted for. 
 
 The peasantry of other countries are even less fortunate 
 than our own. Saying nothing of wooden shoes, the 
 leather ones they wear are not only thick and stiff in 
 material, but the soles are often filled with stout iron nails 
 besides. With such things on the feet there can be no 
 spring to the toes, no use for the forward part of the arch. 
 
72 DI^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 no play to the muscles. The feet can hardly be otherwise 
 than weak and flat. When tightness is added to stiffness 
 the effect must be still worse. 
 
 Children must feel these bad consequences more than 
 adults, for being less firm in their muscles and bones, they 
 have less power of resisting the cramping, weakening in- 
 fluence. Some of the boots manufactured in this country 
 for boys can be recommended only as a shghtly less evil 
 than going barefoot in cold weather. 
 
 One other reason is, ver}^ probably, lack of development. 
 The calf of the leg is but partially developed in some 
 races of men, and only comes to its full growth in condi- 
 tions of civilized society that call for the use of all its 
 muscles. So it is confidently believed that all those steps 
 and motions which give lightness, grace, ease, and ele- 
 gance to the movements of the body, such as occur in 
 most varieties of the dance, and particularly such as 
 demand the use of the toes, have a tendency to develop 
 and strengthen the foot's arch. As its full development 
 tends to create easy, light, and graceful movements, so 
 these hi turn help it to grow hito full strength and beauty. 
 Hence the well-developed calf, the v/ell-arched foot, and 
 the graceful step will almost invariably be found to go 
 together. 
 
 There may be yet other and unknown causes of this 
 deformity ; but enough have been noticed to account for 
 the great majority of cases. While it is already very 
 common, the influences that have produced it are still 
 
producing and confirming the wrong shape. Of course 
 the longer the fault is established the more difficult it is 
 to make a change ; but there is believed to be a partial 
 remedy, at least, in the case of young persons. It consists 
 in simply supporting the back part of the arch as nature 
 does in her own way; that is, in supporting the whole 
 under-surface of the calcaneum, or heel-bone, as is done 
 when the bare foot is pressed upon the ground. A long 
 heel — one extending under the sole far enough for its front 
 edge to support the front part of the bone — is the thing 
 required. When the foot rests upon such a heel, the 
 whole weight of the body acts as a force to compel the 
 forward part of the bone to push itself upward into its 
 true place, because, being a quarter of an inch— more or 
 less — lower than it ought to be, it cannot be perfectly at 
 ease until it gets back where it belongs. The weight of 
 the body, then, is just as influential in restoring the arch 
 to its natural form when the long heel is worn, as it is in 
 breaking it down when the short heel is the only support. 
 There is reason to think that a large number of the flat 
 feet could be corrected by this simple expedient. The 
 long-standing cases might require considerable time, and 
 even prove too obdurate for this remedy; but the law 
 which compels all parts of the system to adapt themselves 
 to circumstances would tend constantly and strongly to 
 bring about the effect desired. In those cases where the 
 feet have not grown into a positive, settled distortion, we 
 doubt not the result would be decided and very gratifying ; 
 
74 DJ^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 
 
 and if the children wore these long heels — if, in short, the 
 whole people were educated to see the necessity of wearing 
 them, when any at all are worn, the instances of flat-foot 
 would be far less common. 
 
 A few years since. Dr. Plumer (before referred to) pa- 
 tented a style of boot, of which the long heel is one 
 characteristic. This is, in fact, the best thing about his 
 invention, and should go far to make it popular, even if it 
 has no other recommendation. The fashion has been 
 considerably introduced in some places, and has also had 
 some effect in increasing the length of heels in work not 
 made after that style, and thus may indirectly have saved 
 many from having the arch of their feet broken down. 
 For this it is deserving of praise, though we attach less 
 importance to its other peculiarities. 
 
 The old-fashioned way of making heels leaves them 
 from one-fourth to five-eighths of an inch too short. The 
 whole tendency of such heels is downward, in a double 
 sense. The more they are worn the farther downward 
 goes the foot, not only mforin^ but in chaj-acter — in beauty, 
 gracefulness, and strength. 
 
 The long heel, on the contrary, tends to raise the foot 
 upward in shape, and also to restore its strength and 
 grace. As a means of prevention, it should be adopted 
 for all children, to preserve the shape of feet that are still 
 natural. 
 
 The Plumer heel has frequently been carried to an ex- 
 treme, and in such a way as to make its shape appear 
 

 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 75 
 
 clumsy and inelegant. For this there is no real necessity. 
 A heel that Ayill extend under the foot half an inch farther 
 than the generality of short ones, can be made, by pitching 
 it well under behind, to appear only slightly longer than 
 common at the top, (or bottom,) and be tasteful in every 
 particular. The form may be that of the most approved, 
 and there is no demand for greater width. If the coun- 
 ters or stiffenings be of the right kind, the heel may be 
 made sufficiently narrow to look well, and correspond 
 with the general appearance of an elegant boot, without 
 danger of its treading over. This latter kind of trouble 
 comes mainly from counters that are too weak, though, of 
 course, a heel that is too small relatively — which is not 
 handsome — or that is built inclining to one side, will be 
 likely to produce the same result. 
 
 A high heel has an influence in encouraging this false 
 condition of the arch by throwing the foot forward, thus 
 creating the same effect as a shortening of the heel itself. 
 This is not so great a cause as some others, it is true, but, 
 as one thing tending to the same general result, it should 
 be considered and guarded against. 
 
 It is claimed that a necessity exists for a heel of some 
 kind in order to prevent the stubbing of the toes in 
 walking; and the fact that people of Eastern countries 
 turn up the toes of their shoes seems to countenance the 
 claim. Yet, it is doubtful. Although Nature did not put 
 anything under our heels, it cannot be supposed that she 
 intended us to go about constantly stubbing our toes. If 
 
76 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 there had really been a need of raising up the heel, she 
 would have raised it. It is more likely that by wearing 
 heels we have got the foot into a false habit of pointing 
 the toes downward more than is natural, and hence our 
 inclination to stub them when the artijficial heels are not 
 under us, if such is the fact. The heels must be decided 
 (described) as unnatural as they are unnecessary. Still, 
 a moderately high one is not so obnoxious as to be worth 
 disputing about. If the height were limited to an inch 
 for the heels of a lady^s boot, and an inch and a quarter 
 for those of gentlemen, as a general rule, in both cases, 
 the disadvantage of such heels would be so trifling that 
 they could hardly be objectionable, provided the length 
 was sufficient. But a short heel, however low it may be, 
 is a villainous thing. 
 
 Another great means, both of preventing the fall of the 
 arch, and of restoring it afterward — one hardly inferior to 
 that of the heel — is the exercise and development of the 
 muscles of the under side of the foot. These are chiefly 
 concerned in the use of the toes. They act whenever we 
 spring upon the forward part of the foot in walking, leap- 
 ing, or dancing. Their exercise not only strengthens them, 
 but it strengthens all the other parts also ; the ligaments 
 and bones, as well, being made more dense, firm, and 
 enduring, according to the law that the proper use of the 
 muscles of any part of the body draws blood, vitality, and 
 strength into the surrounding or contiguous parts. As 
 these muscles extend in a general lengthwise direction. 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 77 
 
 their strong and firm condition tends directly to hold the 
 snds of the arch as near together as they naturally belong, 
 Dr in other words, prevent their separation. And as they 
 must separate before the arch can sink, it is seen that 
 bere is a powerful influence naturally exerting itself to 
 restrain the foot from flattening ; a view which can be 
 sustained by good anatomical and medical authority. 
 
 The ladies of Spain are said to possess the finest feet of 
 my race of women in the world. The fact can hardly be 
 disputed; and to account therefore it is only necessary to 
 take into consideration the general prevalence of their 
 national habit of dancings which, by all its movements 
 md exercises of the foot, tends directly toward strength- 
 ening the toes and raising the arch. A person who can 
 support the weight of the body on the tips of the great 
 toes, either naturally or by cultivation, must possess not 
 only strong muscles in the toes themselves, but a strong 
 arch, and strong foot throughout. We will risk the 
 reputation of this book on the assertion that a broken- 
 down arch cannot be found in the whole dancing pro- 
 fession. 
 
 Here, then, is indicated one course of practical effort by 
 which to avoid or ameliorate the deformity. All those 
 movements of gymnastics which go to strengthen the foot 
 may likewise be adopted with advantage. The toes must 
 also be taught to do their share in the process of walking; 
 and whatever action, in short, will cause the exercise of 
 the muscles of the lower part of the foot, should be 
 
78 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 favoured, and will help to develop and raise the arch. 
 But this effect cannot be produced immediately. It may- 
 require patience, determination, and steady perseverance. 
 There is no royal road to recovery from flat-footedness,. 
 any more than there is to knowledge. 
 
 The coverings for flat feet should always be made upon 
 lasts that are flat in the shank like themselves. A boot 
 made on an arched last cannot possibly fit a foot whose 
 sole is convex from heel to toe; hence such feet need lasts 
 made expressly for them. The upper leather of the boot 
 cannot, in this case, be too soft and pliable. It should 
 be loose enough to allow the bending at the ball and the 
 movements of the toes to be performed with ease. All 
 the muscles must have a chance to act freely, and the 
 blood be permitted to circulate without hindrance. At 
 the same time there is no need of having big wrinkles, or 
 any extra looseness in the fit of the boot, if only sufficient 
 care is taken in the making. 
 
 Another thing to be considered is the stiffening in the 
 shank of boots, more particularly in those of men. If a 
 short heel imist be worn a stiff shank had better go with 
 it. A metallic shank, if strong, will then be useful, and 
 perhaps generally effective in keeping up the foot. A 
 shank-piece of leather is seldom so stiff but that a flat 
 foot will bend it downward to adapt it to its own shape. 
 So it will also depress the steel shank at the forward and 
 middle portions, but probably not directly in front of the 
 heel, where the most support is required. The shank,. 
 
I ............ , _ 
 
 too, unless nearly straight, will be apt to press against the 
 middle of the arch — or where the arch ought to be — so 
 strongly as to cause discomfort ; and it is a question if 
 such a pressure does not itself tend to weaken the foot 
 still more. It is thus doubtful if the metallic shank will 
 be of any benefit to a flat foot, unless pains are taken to 
 make it conform to a flat-bottomed last by straightening. 
 Feet that are tolerably well-arched can wear it with no 
 difficulty. 
 
 But, further : the stiffness in the shank of the boot in- 
 terferes somewhat with the flexibility of the foot, and 
 therefore no more of it than is necessary to pull off the 
 boot ought to be allowed. By far the best way, and the 
 only right way, is to wear a heel sufficiently long to give 
 all the needed support, and a shank as flexible as it can 
 be without breaking or clinging to the foot when the boot 
 is drawn off. The foot — at least the heel and arch portion 
 — is then left unimpeded in its natural action. If it be 
 said that the stiffness is intended to keep the sole in its 
 proper shape, it is replied that when the boot fits naturally 
 and easily — not loosely — it will keep its correct shape 
 without any help, while if it does not it will tread badly 
 in spite of all the stiffness. 
 
 There is an additional elegance, and general appear- 
 ance of elevation given to the foot by having the sole of 
 the boot made as thin and light in the shank or waist as 
 possible. This can be done in men's boots by driving a 
 row of pegs through the shank-piece, putting the pegs 
 
8o DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 close together, to create stiffness, without increasing the 
 thickness of the leather. The shoemaker will understand. 
 A shank made in this manner will be firm enough in 
 drawing off the boot, the thickly- driven pegs not leaving 
 room between them for the leather to break; while it is 
 much more flexible than a thick one. It is thus better 
 adapted to the foot, at the same time that it is qtiite as 
 reliable for its own proper purpose. One piece of leather 
 may thus take the place of two or three. Where a metallic 
 shank is used, there will of course be the appearance of 
 lightness. 
 
 The model boot or shoe of the future, however, will be 
 one in which there shall exist no need of stiffness in order 
 to draw it off, but where this part of the sole will be so 
 thin and flexible as to be easily pressed downward by the 
 large ligament under the arch when the toes are raised, 
 while it will cling upward close to the hollow of the foot 
 ivhen the arch is raised and the toes extended. 
 
 Another hint to the bootmaker may not be inappropriate. 
 It is generally considered desirable to have the side seams 
 correspond with, or meet, the forward corners of the heel. 
 To effect this when a long heel is made it is only neces- 
 sary to add half an inch, or more, to the width of the 
 back-pattern at the bottom, before cutting. This width 
 may be added at the bottom, and lessened gradually 
 toward the top, or continued through the whole length 
 oi the pattern equally, as preferred. A corresponding 
 
^^B DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 8i 
 
 ^^^mount must of course be taken off from the width of the 
 frofit pattern at the same time. In a boot without side- 
 seams the same rule applies in cutting the ends of the 
 outside counter. 
 
 The front of the heel should not be cut out in curved 
 form, as is sometimes done, because that is a virtual 
 shortening of it; though there is no objection to cutting 
 out the upper lifts of the leather, letting the point of the 
 knife come out before touching the sole, which makes a 
 shortened appearance without affecting the length at all 
 •where the sole and heel surfaces unite. A heel rounded 
 .out, lengthwise, would be preferable to one curved in, 
 though it might not be thought so elegant unless indorsed 
 by fashion. We speak thus particularly about the con- 
 struction of the heel, because it is important ; as the good 
 or ill form of the foot's arch seems to depend upon it more 
 than upon anything else, except it be the strengthening of 
 the muscles. 
 
 There is a third peculiarity of the Plumer last that is 
 worthy of notice, and which consists in a hollowing out or 
 concaving of the bottom or sole from the heel forward to 
 the toe, but mostly through the ball. This Hollow is de- 
 signed to be filled up with leather in making the boot, so 
 as to leave the bottom of the sole flat, while mside it is 
 roicnded upward. The object of this change in the shape 
 of the last is to make it conform to the shape of the foot, 
 which it does very closely. But, at the same time, so far 
 as this has any effect upon the foot at all it has an injurious 
 
 6 
 
82 DJ^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 one. The form of the sole of the foot at this place is one 
 that ottght not to be conformed to by the sole of the boot. 
 There is a low arch, transversely of the foot, from the 
 ball of the great toe to that of the little one, its two oppo- 
 site resting points. In nature it is somewhat like the 
 great arch between the ball and heel. To raise the 
 sole under it is like supporting an arch in the middle, 
 which would be absurd. In this case it is entirely un- 
 natural, and only of use in a boot that is very tight, or 
 much too ^larrow, where it may do good by prevcjtting the 
 formation of a big wrinkle in the sole of the foot, length- 
 wise, which might come from the drawing together of the 
 opposite sides. The following quotation, strongly sets 
 forth the impropriety of the new mode. 
 
 " There has been a good deal said of late about the 
 transverse arch of the foot, and the necessity of support- 
 ing it to prevent its breaking down, and the unfortunate 
 possessor becoming splay-footed. Did any one ever hear 
 of an arch requiring support ? * * ^ What is called the 
 transverse arch is in reality a portion of an elliptic spring ; 
 and the moment you fill up the natural hollow of the foot 
 you destroy its elasticity. What carriage-maker puts sup- 
 ports under the arches of his carriage-springs.^ The 
 human foot is a combination of bones and strong muscles 
 that act as sp7'ings, and at each point where it comes in 
 contact with the ground is placed a cushion to prevent 
 jarring. When the weight of the body is placed upon the 
 foot, it spreads both in length and breadth, and it contracts 
 
I ............ , 
 
 again when the weight is removed; and any artificial sup- 
 port under the hollow of the foot prevefits this expansion 
 and contraction, and one may as well have a wooden foot, 
 for all practical purposes, as one which has a support 
 under the transverse arch.''* 
 
 As the foot spreads at every step, the arch naturally 
 flattens in the middle, but this is prevented when the sole 
 is built up under it. // is self-evident that the foot is 
 designed to tread on a flat sinface, as its most natural 
 finction. Any attempt to make it tread constantly on a 
 convex one is manifestly wrong. Yet, as said before, it 
 may be of use to prevent a greater evil where people are 
 determined to wear tight or narrow boots in spite of all 
 reason or propriety. 
 
 It is also true that a slight hollow will exist under the 
 ball of a well-arched foot, even when pressed upon by the 
 weight of the body. This may be filled up if desired, for, 
 being so small, it is a matter of indifference whether it is 
 so or not, while there is perfect safety in letting it alone. 
 
 We see, then, that while one characteristic of the Plu- 
 mer boot — the long heel— is a very valuable one, another 
 — that of filling under the transverse arch — is useless, or 
 positively injurious. The first, or good quality, however, 
 overbalances the latter, and therefore the boot is an im- 
 provement upon the old or common style. The true and 
 
 ' * This paragraph is from Mr. J. L. Watkins, a boot and shoe 
 manufacturer of New York city, who has attempted to carry mto 
 practice the idea of Prof. Meyer. 
 
 6—2 
 
84 DJ^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 
 
 natural- shaped boot would have z.flat or level surface from 
 heel to toe on the sole, not wholly, but precisely where in 
 this it is hollowed out. The parts on each side of the 
 level strip would be slightly convex, like the corresponding 
 parts of the foot ; not too much so, however, for then the 
 last would be too rounding on the bottom, taking the 
 whole width in view, which is as bad a fault as the hollow, 
 or even worse ; as it interferes more with the spreading of 
 the transverse arch, and, by making a concave upper sur- 
 face to the insole of the shoe, compels the ball to tread 
 into just such a hollow as would fit a broken-down, splay 
 foot. The natural inference is that such a shoe would 
 tend to favour the production of just such a foot. 
 
 It is believed that the broken-down transverse arch will 
 almost always be found accompanied by the broken-down 
 arch of the instep. Though the latter may exist without 
 the former, yet we suspect that the two incline to go to- 
 gether — that the sinking of the greater arch tends to carry 
 down the other along with it, while a natural weakness of 
 muscle would be a predisposing condition. If there are 
 other causes they are not yet known. The last supposi- 
 tion being correct, then the most direct way to a cure 
 would be to restore the arch of the instep to its proper 
 shape and position; which would probably have the same 
 tendency to raise the other, that its depression had to 
 break it down. The grand recipe for this, as already 
 given, is the long heel ; which can be made upon any 
 kind of covering, whatever its peculiarities. The use oi 
 
the muscles of the toes must also come in as an auxiliary 
 help not to be underrated. 
 
 Still another remedial measure is the " righting tip " of 
 the foot. Many, if not most, of the feet that have broken- 
 down arches also tread over inward along the whole side- 
 In such cases the weight of the body, as already stated, 
 falls upon the arch in a wrong direction. The arch, in- 
 stead of standing upright 2iYi^ receiving the weight directly 
 over itself, supports the body while itself leaning over to 
 one side. Any other kind of arch, in a similar condition, 
 would quickly fall over or settle down; and it is no won- 
 der the foot settles down to a level in the shank. Weak 
 muscles in the ankle and foot of a child will allow the 
 foot to take a one-sided tendency, and it is not impossible 
 the child may inherit something of this weakness from a 
 weak-footed parent, and thus the infirmity be perpetuated. 
 But with the fault existing, however produced, the foot 
 cannot get strong till the arch is restored to its natural 
 perpendicularity. The best manner of righting it up will 
 be described in a chapter farther on. The uprightness 
 will give the muscles a better chance to grow strong, while 
 these assist the operation of the long heel; and possibly 
 it will prove not inferior to either of them in promoting 
 the desired result. 
 
 We are sorry that facts from practical effort cannot be 
 given to show a realized success in this direction. But in 
 truth we doubt that an earnest and systematic attempt 
 was ever made to raise up a broken-down foot. All that 
 
S6 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 can be said is that the methods recommended must ne- 
 cessarily tend toward the restoration of the arch. But 
 this alone ought to furnish assurance of success, and en- 
 courage an archless-footed person to combine those 
 methods, and give them a faithful trial. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Natural Character of the Instep — Causes, and Prevention, of Sores 
 upon it — False Taste— Callosities of the Heel — Counters — Criti- 
 cism of Lasts. 
 
 T N the last chapter the instep was spoken of as a part 
 of the whole arch of the foot. It is now to be looked 
 at from the upper side. When the foot is in its best shape 
 this part is elevated and prominent, with a well-marked 
 and graceful rise from the ball upward, and a distinct pro- 
 jection or convexity at its upward portion, or about half 
 way between the joint and the ankle, which is the upper 
 surface of the first cuneiform bone, or the point where 
 that bone joins the first metatarsal. This place is subject 
 to callosities or thickenings of the skin.resembling corns, 
 but more frequently is affected by soreness without any 
 thickening of the skin. In the broken-down foot there is 
 no convexity here at all, or but very little, the instep being 
 a straight inclined plane from the ankle to the ball, and 
 sometimes even bending downward. Insteps of this kind, 
 whatever bad effects may come from their flatness, are 
 
88 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 not afflicted in the way just described. Corns and callosi- 
 ties are never known to fasten upon them ; an advantage 
 which shows that some good is mixed with evil, in the foot 
 as well as elsewhere. It is the best formed instep, on the 
 contrary, that is most subject to callosity and tenderness- 
 
 This tenderness or callosity, whichever it may be, has 
 one cause in the general tightness of the boot worn, and 
 may have two others, arising from the shape of the lasts 
 used. One of these is in the fact that the corresponding 
 part of the last— technically called the cone of the instep 
 — does not extend far enough forward, or is shaved off too- 
 much — is left too flat^ for the fitting of well-arched feet. 
 There is not wood enough, proportionally, in the last at 
 this point. The other cause comes from the whole instep^ 
 being placed too near the middle^ instead of on the sidc^ 
 where the foot has it. Mr. Watkins, who was referred to 
 in the last chapter, thus explains this defect : 
 
 " If the instep is not in the right place, the foot swells 
 in that place. I have seen very troublesome sores on the 
 instep, and very difficult to cure, arising from the mis- 
 placing of the instep of the last. By a peculiar measure- 
 ment* I have been enabled to obviate all difficulty in that 
 
 * A measurement for such cases may be taken by drawing the 
 strap-measure from the point of the instep around the heel, to give 
 the size, while the distance between the same two points, in a 
 straight hne, should be taken by the size-stick, in the same way we 
 take the length of the foot, to show how far forward the point of the 
 instep ought to be located on the last. The measure i?r(??/;/fl? the 
 foot at the latter place must also be taken. 
 
respect, so that none of my customers now complain of 
 tender insteps. The insteps on ordinary lasts are placed 
 near the middle, which is erroneous, as the point of the 
 instep lies on one side, and not in the centre, and common 
 sense would* indicate that the thicker parts of the lasts 
 should be on the side of the large joints and toe, and the 
 thinner on the outside of the foot, where the small toes 
 are placed." 
 
 It may seem, at first thought, as we look at a boot after 
 it is made, that the leather will accommodate itself to the 
 shape of the foot with the greatest ease. It appears per- 
 fectly pliable, ready to take any form or place that the 
 foot may give to it ; and this is true to a great extent, but 
 it is not so entirely. When the boot is made the leather 
 is stretched^ and worked into a definite shape— that of the 
 last. When a foot large enough to fill it is put inside, if 
 it be of a different form there will be more or less force 
 exerted to change the shape and adapt it to that of the 
 foot. This is one reason of the difficulty often experienced 
 the first time, or first few times, a new boot is worn. The 
 resistance, pressure, and friction may be considerable, or 
 only slight, with a corresponding effect. 
 
 This misplacement of the instep is true of the ordinary 
 right-and-left lasts, and it is necessarily still more marked 
 in the straight lasts on which the great majority of ladies' 
 boots and shoes are made. If women's insteps do not 
 suffer from this difficulty more than men's, it is because 
 they wear softer material, and boots fitting less tightly 
 
90 DRESS AND CARE OE THE FEET, 
 
 than those of men. The latter have an advantage of the 
 former in this respect, as in some others ; for while they 
 have right-and-left lasts wholly, with ladies the straight 
 last is the rule, the other the exception. As long as 
 woman does not have her boots and shoes made right and 
 left, she is losing one of her " rights," and subjecting her 
 feet to an *' oppression " which, unless they can bear a great 
 deal, they will be likely to complain of in an unpleasant 
 way. And this right is not so unimportant, but that it will 
 be found best to give it a little attention, although the re- 
 monstrating '^ subject " may be in a very humble position. 
 
 The best thing to be done for feet with sore insteps is 
 to have lasts made to fit them, and their coverings made 
 by some one who knows the real source of the trouble. 
 The sore will generally disappear soon after removing the 
 pressure. The prevention of it is a much better thing, 
 and will come with a more general understanding of the 
 foot's nature, and with the more correctly-shaped lasts and 
 more perfect skilfulness which that knowledge will give 
 to the shoe manufacturer. 
 
 There is another deformity of the foot, chiefly of the 
 instep, which might be called the stub-foot. It is not the 
 natural short, thick foot of short, stout persons, but seem 
 an unnatural chubbiness, made by prevention of the foot's 
 growth lengthwise. It is an approximation to the Chinese 
 foot — thick and large round the ankle and instep, but 
 short and small at the toes. There is no correct propor- 
 tion between one part and another. The arch is high. 
 
H DJ^BSS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 91 
 
 but thick and clumsy, without its natural regularity and 
 
 I beauty. The constant cramping of small shoes, worn 
 when the feet are young, is most probably the cause of 
 such development, by preventing a normal and perfect 
 growth. As the forward parts of the foot, being smaller 
 and weaker, are more easily cramped, the increase of size 
 is at the heel, and around and above the arch. 
 
 It is a very Chinese idea of perfection which admires 
 feet of this [character. A correctly educated taste prefers 
 to see a foot equally well developed in all its parts, and of 
 a size proportionate to the she of the whole body. This 
 is the idea of the artist, as opposed to that of the China- 
 man, and has a reason for it, while the other has none. 
 
 If a chance is given the toes to develop themselves 
 before the body gets its full growth, the fault may perhaps 
 be partially outgrown ; but after that, the foot will be 
 almost sure to keep the same shape always. The thing 
 to be remedied, is the strange taste which looks upon feet 
 that are abnormally small with any more admiration than 
 would be given to a small head, or short legs, or stumpy 
 fingers. When people who are otherwise intelligent come 
 to see that the foot has the same right to a full and natural 
 growth that belongs to any other part of the body, they 
 will not cramp it with tight boots, or consider a foot of 
 this kind as any more beautiful than a pug nose, a dwarfed 
 limb, or any other lack of development whatever. The 
 defect will then become the result of chance or misfortune 
 only, instead of intention, governed by a false standard 
 of beauty. 
 
92 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 It is not, however, intended to deny that there are many 
 feet which are proportionally too large, made so by some 
 occupation or habit demanding an extreme development 
 of bone, muscle, and strength. Nature committed na 
 mistake in their production. She made them no larger 
 than was necessary to adapt them to the habits of their 
 possessor, or of the parents from whom they were inhe- 
 rited. To attempt to improve them by cramping, is only 
 to make them worse by distortion. They will probably 
 decrease their size somewhat in time, if circumstances 
 favour them in so doing ; but if not, they are still no worse 
 than big hands, big noses, big bodies, or many of those 
 other unbalanced developments from which none of us 
 can claim to be entirely free. 
 
 Callosities upon the heel, sometimes so bad as to be 
 called corns, are often troublesome, and mostly so to those 
 persons whose feet are bony and spare of flesh. In these, 
 if they are not broken down, the heel bone, at its upper 
 part, projects backward distinctly. If the boot worn slips 
 at the heel, there is no flesh over the bone to ease the 
 pressure and friction of the leather, and the skin must 
 thicken for its own protection. After a while it becomes 
 so thick, callous, and hard, that every pressure upon it 
 hurts the bone, as much as before it was formed. It has 
 become similar to a hard corn, and must be removed. 
 This can often be done without any softening, by carefully 
 cutting, scraping, or lifting up gradually with the knife. 
 It will probably grow again, and need relifting occa- 
 
sionally as long as the irritation continues. It is due to 
 flat feet to say that they usually escape these annoyances, 
 ^s well as sores of the instep. 
 
 tSHpping of the boot at the heel, is almost always the 
 fault of the boot-maker. It may come from bad cutting, 
 from bad fitting of the upper, from bad lasting, and from 
 badly shaped lasts upon which the boots are made. 
 When the cutting is wrong — which affects inen^s boots 
 mair^ly — it is the leg through the ankle that is too large, 
 or there is some defect that will not allow the upper to 
 last properly. Sometimes it is fitted badly, so as to pro- 
 duce the same result. More often than either of these it 
 is the workman, who neglects to draw it over the last in 
 the right way ; sometimes from want of knowledge, and 
 sometimes from carelessness or indifference. The error 
 consists in not drawing it over the toe sufficiently tight to 
 make it fit closely at the heel. 
 
 A bad fit upon the foot is another cause, in addition to 
 those mentioned ; and it is also true that the heels of well- 
 arched feet are more liable to slip than those whose arches 
 are more or less flattened down. 
 
 Still another and very decided influence in producing 
 callosities on the heel, is a counter that is hard and stiff 
 at its upper portion. Counters of this kind are very com- 
 mon, and ought to be as commonly avoided. The stiff- 
 ness of a counter should be at the bottom of it, whet'e thei^c 
 can hardly be too much, while the upper half, or more 
 should taper to a thin edge^ that is soft and flexible, Then^ 
 
94 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 while firm at the proper place, it bends and fits snugly to 
 the heel, preventing its slipping; when, if it stands up 
 straight and stiff throughout, the foot will slip almost in- 
 variably. 
 
 Lasts, particularly boot lasts, are at fault in this respect 
 generally. Those upon which shoes and slippers are 
 made are so shaped as to force the shoe to set tightly at 
 the heel and ankle. The principle upon which they are 
 formed is well known, and is a correct one. It is difficult 
 to see why it should not be carried further in its applica- 
 tion, and govern the making of lasts for boots and gaiters 
 as well as of those intended for low shoes. The necessity 
 is the same in both these styles ; there is only a difference 
 in degree, which is greater in the low shoe and slipper 
 than in the high gaiter and boot. The tightness at the 
 ankle which prevents slipping, is supplied, more or less 
 perfectly, in side spring gaiters, and those that are laced. 
 Lacing compels the boot to fit closely, whether it does so 
 easily or not. In men's boots, where there is no lacing 
 this effect is produced only by having them so small about 
 the heel and ankle that the foot can hardly move at all 
 after it is crowded inside. This may, or may not, be too 
 tight for comfort, but it is doubtful if there is need of its 
 being so for the sake of having a well-fitting boot. The 
 fit can be produced in the same way as in the slipper or 
 shoe, and the demand for doing it is the same, only not to 
 the same extent. The slipper has nothing to keep it on 
 the foot, unless strings are resorted to, except the tightness 
 
leiigthzvise caused by the peculiarity of the last. A boot, 
 by covering the instep is held more securely, yet it often 
 slips at the heel, and is all the more likely to do so when 
 the foot is well arched. 
 
 It seems to us that the way to remedy this trouble in 
 boots is precisely the same as the means taken to prevent 
 it in shoes : that is, to make 7/w?'e spring in the last for- 
 ward of the instep ; in other words ^ a greater curve on the 
 bottom. The amount of this spring or curve need not be 
 so great as in the shoe last, for the reason just stated, that 
 the boot is confined at the instep, while the shoe is not, to 
 the same extent. A good shoemaker would not like to 
 make an Oxford shoe upon a boot last, although it is laced 
 well up toward the ankle. Why should he be willing 
 to make a boot on it, when the boot is confined at the 
 instep no more than the shoe ? There is the same danger 
 of slipping in both cases, and why should it not be guarded 
 against in the same way ? Every one who has made or 
 sold shoes knows that a slipper, or low shoe of any kind,, 
 will fit on the foot much better if made on a shoe last ; 
 that it is less liable to be loose at the sides, and to show 
 big wrinldes across the ball; that, in short, it must be 
 made on such a last. The same reasoning and the same 
 rule applies almost as well to the boot or gaiter. If there 
 is any exception, it is the side-spring boot, with its elastic 
 sides to draw the surface smooth, and even this is not an 
 exception when the material is leather, though it may be 
 when cloth of any kind is used. In fact, there is no kind 
 
96 DJ^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 of foot clothing manufactured but would have a better fit 
 upon the foot, both in front and at the heel, sides, and 
 ankle, if a last more closely resembling the common shoe 
 or slipper last was used in the making. There may not 
 be, and we are confident there is not, a necessity for 
 having it so flat in the shank as the common slipper last, 
 nor ' so wide through the same region, but the upward 
 curve of the forward part should be nearly or quite as 
 great. The curve of the shank might be very nearly the 
 same as that of the hollow of the foot, while at the toes it 
 may curve, we will say, one-half as much as the whole 
 bend of the toes in walking. This form makes it a shoe 
 last at the fore part, while the shank is but little different 
 from the ordinary boot last. The part between the heel 
 and instep need not be so wide at the bottom, nor, per- 
 haps, so narrow at the top, as the best shaped lasts for 
 shoes. It is believed possible, however, to make the shank 
 sufficiently wide, at a slight distance above the bottom, to 
 accommodate the foot easily, while it may be suddenly 
 narrowed below sufficiently to allow a narrow-shanked 
 sole to be made upon it, if desired, without difficulty. If 
 so., this would be the blending of taste with comfort in the 
 fit The outside edge would be a little lower than the 
 other, as it is in the foot. Perhaps the whole may be well 
 described as half-way between the extremes of the two 
 different styles. There would be no difference between 
 those designed for men and those for women, except in 
 width and bulk — none in the general form. 
 
DKESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 97 
 
 It may be feared that a tongued boot — patent leather 
 or Napoleon — may be more difficult to draw on the foot 
 if made upon a last of this style. We believe that it can 
 make but very little difference, probably not any after the 
 boot is bent in the shank, while it will do much to pre- 
 vent slipping at the heel when cut with a large ankle, as 
 is usually the case. The pitch of the leg will be very 
 nearly the same when on the last as when the boot is 
 worn. 
 
 • It may be observed, however, that an improvement has 
 lately been made in many lasts by giving them a greater 
 degree of this curve on the bottom. But it is easy to 
 carry it to an extreme. The sole can be curved too much 
 as well as left too straight. Men's lasts of medium size 
 have been made with the toes raised an inch and a half 
 above the level of the ball and heel ; which is half an 
 inch more than is necessary, or useful. Too much spring, 
 in'a thick-soled, stiff boot, prevents the straightening of 
 the toes, while in a thin one, where the toes can be 
 straightened, it may create longitudinal wrinkles in the 
 upper, near the sole at the inside joint. An average 
 spring of an inch in men's lasts, and three-fourths of an 
 inch in those for women, is not far from the proper 
 standard. 
 
 Forms of lasts have always been subject to change. 
 Fifteen or twenty years ago boot lasts were made very 
 hollow in the shank, and very much curved upward at the 
 toe. After that came the stub-toes— -flat in shank, and 
 
 7 
 
98 DRESS AND CARE Oh THE FEET, 
 
 with scarcely any curve at all ; and, in addition to all the 
 changes fashion has imposed, besides the two indicated, 
 every manufacturer seems to have a style of his own, 
 more or less distinct. The principles which should 
 govern their form seem to be very loosely understood, 
 and hence all the differing shapes and styles. 
 
 All this is exactly the opposite of what it should be. 
 We have no more right to change the shape of lasts every 
 few years than we have to change that of the foot, and to 
 do this, for it amounts to nothing less, when Nature has 
 formed it exactly in the best way to adapt it to its design 
 and use, is simple absurdity. To change either is just as 
 foolish as it would be to make hats that would flatten the 
 head on the back or sides, and compel it to grow in an 
 upward direction. The whole matter of the shape of lasts 
 is something which fashion has no right to meddle with, 
 unless, it may be, to round or square the toes. It has no 
 right to narrow them beyond a certain limit, nor even at 
 all except from the outside. The business of the last- 
 maker is to learn what is the true shape of the natural, 
 healthy foot, and then to imitate it as closely as possible^ 
 making only the slight differences for different kinds of 
 coverings that have been pointed out. And when so 
 formed, let it be considered as a thing not to be altered, 
 except to make it resemble the foot still more perfectly. 
 Fashion and taste may change and dictate the cut and 
 style of the upper parts of the boot or shoe to almost any 
 extent, but they must not be allowed to shorten the length 
 
DI^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 9^ 
 
 of the heel, nor to interfere in any manner with the shape 
 of the last 
 
 We have been somewhat particular in description, for 
 the sake of influencing the makers of lasts and boots, as 
 well as for the comfort of those who are to wear the lat- 
 ter. When these principles govern in its manufacture* 
 the boot will fit almost as easily at the first putting on as 
 it will after a week's wearing. The trouble of " breaking 
 in " will be nearly abolished. It may also be promised 
 that slipping at the heel will be of rare occurrence, and 
 the callosities produced by it be got rid of with little 
 difficulty. When once removed they will not be likely to 
 come again, with a boot that causes no irritation. 
 
 7-2 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Inclinations of the Feet— How to Make them Tread Squarely— Pe- 
 culiar Lasts — ^Weak Ankles — Cultivation of Muscle — ^I'uming in 
 of the Toes. 
 
 nPHERE remains still one other defect to be noticed — 
 that of treading upon the side of the foot. This is 
 a very common fault, and seems to be a habit often 
 acquired quite early. The feet appear to leave the old, 
 upright way of getting through the world, and take a 
 sidewise deviation. Having commenced losing their 
 uprightness when young, they, unless speedily helped, 
 seldom recover it entirely afterward. The individual who 
 possesses such unfortunate inclinations never has the 
 satisfaction of knowing what it is to stand up in perfect 
 rectitude. Whether the physical leaning of the feet has 
 any tendency to create a moral one-sidedness may be 
 considered an open question. It is hardly safe to say 
 that it does not^ when we know that the whole carriage, 
 attitude, and dress of the individual has an effect upon 
 the condition of the mind. But leaving that to be settled 
 
DI^BSS AND CAR^ p^T^fi ^'-fe-'TV' '/^ '. ' 'lofi' ' 
 
 as it may, we must see what can be done to straighten 
 the feet up to their natural position. 
 
 Feet that tread upon the inside are, many of them, 
 flattened somewhat at the same time. This latter fault 
 may come from any of the influences previously pointed 
 out, or from a natural weakness of the muscles and liga- 
 ments of the ankle, which condition frequently exists in 
 children. When this is the case, the arch of the foot 
 being turned, the weight of the body is improperly 
 directed upon it — that is, the arch bears this weight 
 slightly upon one side instead of directly over itself. 
 This tends to break it down and make the foot flat. The 
 flatness, if already existing, may tend to throw the foot 
 still more toward the side. Either way, the first thing to 
 be done is to counteract the flatness by a sufficiently long 
 heel under the shoe, to support the arch. The shoe 
 should also be made upon a flat-bottomed last, and 
 one that will compel it to draw tight along the sides and 
 ankle. Another requisite is that the counter shall be very 
 stiff on the inside, while on the opposite side it should 
 be weak. It should also be high as well as firm, some- 
 times very high, as when the ankle requires very much 
 support. When, however, it reaches so high as to touch 
 the prominences of the joint, it must be carefully thinned 
 on the edge to prevent chafing the bone. If the weakness 
 is but slight, the principal part of the stiffness may be 
 near the bottom, where a good deal of it will do no harm. 
 All persons having feet thus turned should patronize 
 
ko2' ' DkESi AjVb 'CAttE OF THE FEET, 
 the last maker before expecting to accomplish much to- 
 ward correcting them. An ordinary last is, in these 
 cases, good for nothing. It needs to be straight, or nearly 
 so, on its outside edge, from heel to ball, and that part 
 between the heel and instep — the back half of it — should 
 be very full on the outside, while it should be much hol- 
 lowed out on the inside. In other words without altering 
 the general form of the front part, the bulk of the wood in 
 the back and middle parts should incline toward^ and be 
 on, the ontside. The bottom of the last, particularly at 
 the heel, may then be thinned off at the outside edge of 
 the sole, leaving it deepest, or thickest, relatively, at its 
 inside. It then has the appearance of being inclined over 
 outwardly. The shoe or boot made upon it would really 
 be inclined outwardly, and possess a tendency to push the 
 foot which wore it over in the same direction. This is its 
 precise intention. The maker must not forget to see that 
 the upper is lasted over equally on both sides, or more on 
 the outside, if either. Then it is just such a shoe as 
 would fit easily and comfortably a foot that treads out- 
 side ; andy^r that very reason it is exactly such a one as 
 ought to be worn by a foot that treads inwardly. All the 
 force exerted by the stiffness of the counter, and the incli- 
 nation of the whole shoe, goes toward righting up the foot 
 and pushing it over outwardly. Still there is nothing that 
 can htcrt the foot— only a steady and gentle pressure in 
 the right direction, which does not interfere with the use 
 •of the muscles. 
 
PI^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 103 
 
 In extreme cases a further precaution may be taken by 
 building the heels more upon the inside than the other, 
 and raising them a little the highest on that side, fortify- 
 ing them still more by some large nails, while the outside 
 is not guarded at all. The inside edge of the sole, if 
 sufficiently thick, may be treated in the same way. 
 
 We have said the last should be flat. It ought to be 
 quite as much'so as the foot ; and the long heel must not be 
 forgotten. Of course if there is no flatness of the shank, 
 as is sometimes the case, there need be none in the last. 
 
 This plan of treatment will not only right up the foot, 
 but we believe it will be a great help toward raising the 
 flattened arch. At least, it ought not to be neglected in 
 any case of flat-foot associated with treading inward ; for 
 as long as the foot treads on the inside, there is one cause — 
 weight wrongly directed on the arch — constantly operating 
 to break it down. And this might defeat all the efforts for 
 its restoration. 
 
 Those feet that tread outside need exactly the same treat- 
 ment recommended for the others, only, in the shoes made 
 for them, it must be directed in a way exactly opposite. The 
 stiffness of the counter must be on the outside, as also the 
 guarding of the heel. The last must be straight and very 
 full upon the inside. The main bulk of the wood between 
 the heel and instep should be on that side, projecting well 
 over the bottom at the ball, while it is spare, thinned, or 
 hollowed on the other. The bottom should be thinned off at 
 the inner edge, so that when placed upon a level surface it 
 
I04 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 seems to lean that way. In a word, it will look as though 
 it would fit beautifully a foot that treads inward. Then it 
 is just adapted for one that goes outward. The whole 
 shape and fit of a boot made upon such a last exerts an 
 easy pressure, tending to right up the foot and force it to 
 tread on the opposite side. The principle has not hereto- 
 fore been generally recognized. Let it not be forgotten 
 that the last that would appear to fit a foot that treads out- 
 ward is just the one to be used for afoot that goes inward,- 
 and vice versa. When this is acted upon, the principal 
 step is taken in overcoming the difficulty. 
 
 But as many persons having such feet preserve the 
 natural form of them by treading the boots outside, it is 
 about as well to let them go so, as attempt to right them 
 up, even if a little more leather is thus worn out. On the 
 contrary, when the tendency is to tread inside, the remedy 
 can not be applied too soon if it is wished to avoid the big: 
 joints that result from such a habit. 
 
 Without the lasts here mentioned, however, a little tem- 
 porary improvement can still be effected in those feet that 
 tread over but slightly, by what shoemakers call "working 
 under" the sole of the shoe on the side opposite that which 
 treads over, and by also putting a piece of leather on the last 
 above the sole or bottom, to make room in the upper at that 
 side without increasing the width of the sole. The sole may 
 be "worked full" on the treading-over side at the same time. 
 
 Feet that tread outside generally, if not always, have 
 good arches. 
 
DEESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 105 
 
 The directions here given, if put in practice by a shoe- 
 maker who can appreciate and apply them thoroughly, 
 will, it is believed, straighten up and cure any case of 
 treading-over feet that can be helped at all. And this pro- 
 bably includes the majority of instances. The adoption of 
 such lasts has never been fairly tried, as far as we know, 
 and we are quite confident they will prove successful. 
 
 The turning over of the foot is believed to be sometimes 
 occasioned in children by their being obliged or encouraged 
 to stand or walk upon them for too long a time, when making 
 their first attempts, in infancy. The bones, ligaments, and 
 muscles being all soft, tender, and weak at this period, 
 they may be forced into almost any shape by pressure or 
 overstraining. This is something worthy of careful atten- 
 tion from parents. It is very easy to let a child contract 
 a habit of walking which will render the feet and legs 
 deformed through a whole lifetime. It is also very easy 
 to prevent it, and give the child a natural, upright, easy, 
 . and graceful walk by taking a little pains at the proper 
 period. And it should also be remembered that crooked 
 feet and ankles are more easily straightened while they are 
 young than when the foot has obtained its growth, and 
 every part become firmly settled in its false, position. 
 
 The legs and feet may turn inward, developing knock- 
 knees and flat-foot, or outward, growing into bow-legs, with 
 the feet invariably treading over the opposite way. If a 
 child grows up with either of these distortions, after being 
 born with sound limbs, which might have been continued 
 
io6 ni^£SS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 in their natural perfection, there is, on the part of somebody, 
 a sad lack of duty. 
 
 It is quite possible, also, that this habit may be adopted 
 by children sometimes from wearing a shoe that hurts the 
 foot. The sufferer may turn it on one side to avoid a peg, 
 or some rough projection on the insole, and in this way 
 the fault may be developed in some of those cases where 
 one foot treads over, while the other stands upright. And 
 ■children will often get into an awkward manner of standing 
 or walking, even without any reason for it— from sheer 
 carelessness — and require a great deal of watching, in order 
 to train up their feet correctly.* 
 
 It is to be borne in mind that in all cases of weak ankles, 
 except those incurably so, the object should be to support 
 them no more than is necessary ; but instead, to allow the 
 muscles to be used as much as possible for the sake of 
 strengthening them. When the whole support comes from 
 
 * Another reason for care in guarding against weak ankles is thus 
 given in a work upon the * ' Theory and Practice of the Movement- 
 Cure," by Dr. Charles F, Taylor. 
 
 "Weak ankles, often the result of the ungraceful, and, in other 
 respects, pernicious fashion of wearing high, narrow- heeled shoes, 
 straining them by their rolling about, etc., may be the exciting cause 
 of lateral curvature of the spine. The weaker ankle is generally the 
 left, and the individual soon forms the habit of standing on the right 
 foot. The lower portion of the spine is thrown to the left, and the 
 dorsal portion necessarily thrown to the right.'* In another place he 
 repeats : ' ' We find that almost without exception, in curvature to the 
 right, the left ankle is much weaker than the other. Movements of 
 the foot must be employed, such as inward and outward flexion, 
 twisting the whole leg from the hip, and many others, calculated to 
 strengthen the left leg, hip, and ankle." 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 107 
 
 braces — in the shoe or outside of it — there is nothing left 
 to be done by the muscles on the side of the foot and leg, 
 and consequently they remain weak. The law of growth 
 and strength is use, exercise, or labour. Hence, though 
 guards and braces are sometimes required for weak-ankled 
 children, there ought to be plenty of room between them 
 and the foot ; and it will be well to discard them as soon 
 as a leather stiffening in the shoe can be safely substituted. 
 There are many movements of the Light Gymnastics that 
 for weak ankles would be highly beneficial. It would be 
 well, where there is an opportunity, to adopt all those move- 
 ments in which the muscles of the feet are called into play 
 such as charging, leaning, bracing, springing on the toes, 
 and, in short, almost the whole routine of exercises ; and 
 to practice them, cautiously at first) but thoroughly, until 
 the muscles and ligaments become strong enough to do 
 their duty in bracing up the foot without any assistance. 
 
 There are many feet in which the toes turn inward in 
 walking — a habit which may be easily corrected by a little 
 care and perseverance, and the subject of it enabled to 
 go on his way rejoicing in the knowledge that he has 
 gained a respectable walk in place of one that was ridicu- 
 lously awkward. All that is required to change the habit 
 is to develope the strength of the muscles by calling them 
 into exercise. An every-day practice of turning the feet 
 outward as far as possible, for a few minutes at a time, ' 
 will do a great deal. If, in addition to this, the step is 
 Ijconstaiitly watched, the toes being kept turned out until 
 
io8 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 the muscles are tired, and then, after resting by a return 
 to the old step, the toes are again forced outward, and 
 this is repeated continuously for a few weeks, the awk- 
 wardness will be entirely gone. The practice of light 
 gymnastics is a good corrective for this fault; and the 
 dancing-school is another equally excellent. It is to be 
 hoped that both of them will have their due influence in 
 this respect, till an ungraceful walk is far less common 
 than it is now. With such easy means of correcting and 
 avoiding these faults, any one who will not make a little 
 effort for that purpose, deserves, to say the least, a good 
 share of ridicule.^ 
 
 There is a less number of feet that are turned too much 
 outward, and these can be brought into their right place 
 by the same means directed in the opposite way. The 
 only trouble with them usually is a habit, or a weakness 
 of particular muscles. If the toes are turned in, and per- 
 severingly kept so for a short time, a great difference will 
 be discovered. A further continuance in well-doing will 
 bring its reward in an easy, natural, and graceful step. 
 
 * As a matter not wholly out of place, it may be said that the 
 graceful walker stands upright, and in taking a step uses the muscles 
 and joints of the hip, the knee, and the toes. Many people use the 
 toes but very little, and their step lacks springs elasticity, life, and 
 grace ; while others do not use the muscles in front of the hip 
 enough, and their walk has no dignity. Instead of swinging the 
 whole leg, they seem as though kicking their feet along ahead of 
 them, swinging only that half of it .-below the knee. Stiff coverings 
 on the feet, or very high heels under them, effectually prevent all 
 gracefulness in walking. 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 
 
 109 
 
 Those feet that are wholly turned, or deformed by being 
 drawn up at the heel or toe, and those impaired by disease 
 of the structure, are cases belonging to the surgeon and 
 physician. Many of them might probably have been pre- 
 vented by calling in the surgeon's aid during the child- 
 hood of the unfortunate possessor. Let us hope that few 
 who can be saved from such disfigurement will be allowed 
 to suffer from it through ignorance or culpable negligence 
 in the future. 
 
CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 Corns, Bunions, and Callosities — How they Originate — Nature of 
 the Skin — Various Causes of Corns — How to Remove Them — 
 
 ;. Quotations from the Medical Books — Nature and Treatment of 
 Bunions. 
 
 T T TE come now to another class of difficulties to which' 
 the foot is subject, though they affect the outside 
 mainly, not its structure, and which appropriately call for 
 a notice here, and for some hints concerning their nature 
 and treatment. Almost every one, at some period in a 
 lifetime, forms their unpleasant acquaintance ; and to 
 know how to avoid them entirely, or to destroy and remove 
 them at pleasure, may be considered information worth 
 possessing. Although we lack the familiar practical 
 knowledge of the man who makes corns his profession, 
 the reader shall have the benefit of as much as we are 
 able to supply. 
 
 A common corn is caused by friction or irritation of the 
 skin — the chafing and pressure of the foot against the 
 leather of the boot, or the crowding of the toes against 
 each other. The skin thickens and hardens to protect 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. iir 
 
 itself in the same way that it does upon the hands or 
 other parts of the body exposed to rough contact, the fact 
 and law of which are familiar to everybody. As the irri- 
 tation is continued the skin continues growing harder and 
 thicker, until a large and ugly corn is produced. To un- 
 derstand its nature more fully, and why it assumes a sharp 
 point, thus turning its protection into a torture, it will be 
 necessary to explain something more of the nature of the 
 skin itself. 
 
 There are two layers of membrane composing the skin 
 — the cutis vera, dermis, or true skin, which is the inner 
 portion ; and the cuticle, epidermis, or scarf-skin, which 
 is the outside layer. The dermis, or true skin, consists 
 mainly of a net-work or web of fibrous material, having 
 outside of this a net-work of capillary blood-vessels and 
 lymphatics, interwoven with still another net-work, of 
 nerves, both blood-vessels and nerves terminating in pro- 
 jecting or upright loops, each loop formed of a blood- 
 vessel and a nerve-cord, the two being together side by 
 side. These loops, which are the most extremely sensitive 
 portion of the skin, are called papillce, and they form the 
 projecting fine ridges that are seen on the palm of the 
 hand, where their abundance gives the hand its superior 
 sense of feeling or touch. All these parts — the fibrous 
 meshes, the blood-vessels, nerves, and loops of papillae — 
 are microscopically minute. 
 
 The outside skin or cuticle has no blood-vessels or 
 
112 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 nerves, and hence no life or sensation, but seems to be a 
 covering to protect the true skin, and to modify or dimi- 
 nish its otherwise too extreme sensitiveness ; besides being 
 of use in other ways to the general system. It is that 
 part which is raised up when a blister is produced ; and 
 the sensitiveness of the papillae under it, where it is taken 
 off, shows its necessity. The matter of which it is formed 
 is secreted or poured out by the true skin, and is the same 
 matter which, when dried and hardened in various degrees, 
 becomes the thick skin on the sole of the foot, the callous 
 place on the hand or elsewhere, the dandruff of the head, 
 the hair on any part of the body, the nails of fingers and 
 toes, the hard portion of warts, and the hard or soft corn. 
 All these are essentially the same thing under different 
 modifications. It is constantly worn off from the external 
 surface, and as constantly added to at the under side. 
 
 This internal or under-side layer of the cuticle is com- 
 monly distinguished as the rete mucoswn^ and contains a 
 colouring matter secreted from the true skin, which, as it 
 is greater or less in quantity gives the different shades of 
 complexion ; the semi-transparent nature of the matter 
 outside allowing it to show through. The oil tubes and 
 perspiratory ducts take their rise immediately under the 
 skin, and find their way to the surface, while nerves and 
 blood-vessels traverse it forth and back. 
 
 Some further idea of the nature of the skin may be 
 gained by observing a piece of thick sole-leather in which 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 113 
 
 that part called the grain is the cuticle or epidermis, and 
 the thicker portion is the dermis, or actis vera. 
 
 Now, when any portion of these sensitive loops is in- 
 juriously irritated by pressure or friction, they sometimes 
 push entirely through the cuticle, growing large and 
 covering themselves with hard cuticular matter, thus 
 forming the warts that appear on the hands and other 
 parts of the body. Some corns, we believe, are produced 
 in a similar way— a larger number of the papillae project- 
 ing and being covered completely and thickly with epi- 
 dermis, which, becoming dry and hard, still further pains 
 the sore and sensitive papillae as it is pressed upon by the 
 iDOOt. This kind of corn can be cured only as a wart is 
 removed — by burning the papillae, or, as they are called 
 in the wart, the roots j thus changing the structure of the 
 skin, or, in other words, making a scar. 
 
 Ordinarily a hard corn commences at a point, or by the 
 irritation of a small surface of the skin, or only 3, few of 
 the papillae. From this point an increased supply of the 
 cuticular matter is pushed out in every direction to protect 
 them, growing harder as the process advances, and being 
 more pressed against by the shoe, while the increasing 
 external pressure incites the foot to push out a still larger 
 corn. Thus it grows ; and as the matter first thrown out 
 is the first to become hardened, a point is formed, and 
 the pressure forces it into the flesh, which is compelled to 
 retire before it. The longer this is continued the larger 
 the surface of skin that is made sore, the larger and more 
 
114 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 conical in shape the corn becomes, and the farther its 
 point is forced into the flesh. 
 
 This description is more especially true of the smaller 
 corns; those which extend over a large surface being, 
 probably, originated by a slighter irritation of a larger 
 portion of the skin ; hence they have less of a point and 
 penetrate less deeply. 
 
 Soft corns appear between the toes, and are soft for the 
 reason that, so situated, they are kept moist by perspira- 
 tion. Some of them are secretions of epidermis having 
 no centre or point, but thrown out from the foot at the 
 bottom and sides of the space between the toes, and 
 giving a sensation as of some foreign body, like a pea or 
 a gravel stone, confined there. There may be others that 
 are accompanied by projections of the papillae. 
 
 It is to be noticed that a corn is thus composed wholly 
 of cuticular matter, and is entirely outside of the true skin. 
 
 It has been suggested that here is an instance in which 
 the remedial effort made by Nature converts itself into a 
 diseased and painful action, defeating its primary purpose 
 and creating a worse condition than the one sought to be 
 relieved. But this is not correct. Nature does not put 
 the boot on the foot, nor continue its wear after the corn 
 has originated. On the contrary, if her intimations were 
 heeded, the boot would be discarded the first time it 
 pinched, and there is every reason to believe that then 
 the growth of the corn would be discontinued, and what 
 had already formed would disappear. It is stated in 
 

 £>I^£SS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 115 
 
 medical works that persons confined by sickness for a 
 considerable time have had their corns entirely leave 
 them without any treatment at all, simply because there 
 was no pressure to keep up the irritation, and conse- 
 quently no demand for their existence. 
 
 It has been generally considered that tight boots were 
 the great cause of all the corns and bunions with which 
 the feet have been tormented, and tight boots have ac- 
 cordingly been cursed from toe to heel for their mischiev- 
 ous qualities in this respect. Though it is true that the 
 unnecessary tightness of boots is a principal source of 
 corns, there are others that may not be overlooked. Loose 
 boots, that allow the heel to slip up and down, or the 
 whole foot to slide forward at every step, are effective in 
 the production of these annoyances. Hard, stiff leather 
 is another quite efficient thing in this way. Whether the 
 boot be tight or loose makes not much difference, if it be 
 stiff and hard. Large wrinkles over the joint may some- 
 times have an effect of the same kind, especially if the 
 leather is no softer "than it ought to be." High heels, 
 that pitch the foot forward, and keep it constantly bearing 
 against the leather over the toes, have a great tendency 
 to develop corns. The drawing together of the toes by 
 boots and shoes that are narrow at this point, forcing the 
 toes to crowd against each other, and pushing out the 
 great-toe joint, is one of the most productive of all causes. 
 When occurring upon the bottom of the foot, a peg or 
 some hard projection of the insole of the boot is the agent 
 
 8—2 
 
ii6 DJ^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 to which they may be attributed. Between the toes they 
 are most frequently developed, probably by the pressure 
 of a boot that is too narrow, not only at the ends of the 
 toes, but at their roots or metatarsal joints. 
 
 Btmions, we believe, are never found except upon the 
 joint of the great toe, and the projection of this joint, from 
 the wearing of short and narrow-toed shoes, can not be 
 otherwise than strongly influential in producing them. 
 From wearing foot-coverings of this fashion, which is 
 almost the only kind we have at present, there is the con- 
 stant tendency of the joint to enlarge, widen, and project. 
 This increases its pressure against the leather, and may 
 even create a pressure where there was none at the time 
 the boot was first worn. It is not strange, therefore, that 
 bunions make their appearance imder such circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Thus it is seen that, setting aside the habit of wearing 
 boots that are tight enough to pinch the foot, there is 
 already found an abundant cause for corns. It ought to 
 be sufficiently obvious that the principal characteristics of 
 the present foot- covering — the narrow toes, being often 
 short besides, and the high heels — are corn-producing in 
 all their tendencies. If to these is added the practice, as 
 with many persons, of wearing boots and shoes that are 
 too tight for comfort, and often too narrow on the sole, 
 there is ample reason for the fact that corned feet are 
 numerous. 
 
 We do not know what first induced people to wear boots 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 117 
 
 unnecessarily tight, unless it was the Chinese idea of taste, 
 which desired to prevent the full development of the feet, 
 or make them appear as small as possible. If this be still 
 the motive, it is only necessary to repeat that a true taste 
 demands that a foot be of a size proportionate to the size 
 of the whole body, whether that be large or small. If it is 
 to make the boot fit more smoothly and handsomely, then 
 the object is more often defeated than accomplished. A 
 boot that is too tight — tight enough to be uncomfortable— 
 is not the boot that best fits the foot. It will have as many 
 wrinkles in it as a loose one, and even more, if the leather 
 be thin, while the foot can not go into it naturall}^. The 
 best fitting boot or shoe is one made of the right shape to 
 adapt it to the particular foot ; which is just snug enough 
 to confine it without any uneasy feeling ; and into which 
 it goes easily and naturally to its proper position. There 
 is sufficient length to allow the toe to move without pres- 
 sure on the nail, and sufficient width to let the toes lie side 
 by side, in which position they appear much better than 
 when piled one over another. There are no wrinkles made 
 by loose leather — none by over-tightness. The room is 
 entirely filled, while at the same time the foot is easy, and 
 can make its natural movements in walking with ease and 
 grace ; which it can not do when squeezed into a boot that 
 is too tight. A person wearing a tight boot has a stiff and 
 unnatural walk, which can not be compensated by any 
 beauty of the fit so gained, provided it is gained. There 
 are only the soft and fleshy feet that can bear compression 
 
ii8 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 with any benefit to their appearance, and with 'these still 
 the same rule is equally good— they must not be squeezed 
 more than comfort will allow. If complaint is made that 
 the upper leather stretches out, and the foot treads over the 
 sole, and spreads and sprawls about more than appears 
 neat and proper, it is only to be replied that if a shoe of the 
 right shape, and sufficiently wide is worn, there will be no 
 trouble of this kind. 
 
 On the whole, tight-boot-wearing is a humbug. It is 
 entirely unnecessary, doing no good, while often defeating 
 itself when its object is to improve the foot's appearance. 
 Besides the ordinary discomfort created by it, the whole 
 tendency of extreme tightness is toward corns and defor- 
 mity. 
 
 How much, now, it may be inquired, is meant by extreme 
 tightness ? The answer is — discomfort. A new boot or 
 shoe that fits as it should, may be worn without serious 
 discomfort for several hours, or half a day, when first put 
 on. After three or four days it may be worn all the time. 
 It ought not to be expected that it can be worn constantly 
 at first ; for if loose enough, for this it will soon be too loose 
 for a handsome fit. Then, an article that is tight for a 
 foot belonging to a weak and delicate organization, with a 
 feeble circulation of blood, may be perfectly easy to a foot 
 of the same size and shape belonging to a strong, healthy 
 constitution with an energetic circulation ; and for the same 
 reason a person can wear a tighter shoe when young than 
 when advanced in life, or failing in health ; but either of 
 
D/^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 119 
 
 these, and at any time, may be governed by the rule, that 
 positive discomfort indicates extreme tightness. There are 
 some kinds of material that stretch considerably under the 
 foot's pressure, and boots made from these should be a 
 little tighter at first than those made of firmer stock. Be- 
 sides, there are some feet so sensitive that very slight pres- 
 sure or friction will develope corns on them, and such must 
 wear a softer material than is worn by feet that are more 
 hardy. The question of tightness is somewhat complicated 
 by such considerations. Most of us, however, can usually 
 tell for ourselves what is tight, and we have no right to 
 decide for others. 
 
 Ordinary hard corns, when young, may be removed by 
 scraping up the callous skin around the borders and prying 
 out carefully with a pocket knife. There is no need of 
 cutting through the under skin. In more difficult cases some 
 further treatment will be necessary, and for them we quote 
 the following methods, the first from Cooper's "Dictionary 
 of Surgery." 
 
 " Wide, soft shoes should be worn. Such means are not 
 only requisite for a radical cure, but they alone often effect 
 it. Though the radical cure is thus easy, few obtain it, 
 because their perseverance ceases, as soon as they experi- 
 ence the wished- for relief. 
 
 "When business or other circumstances prevent the 
 patient from adopting this plan, and oblige him to stand 
 or walk a good deal, still it is possible to remove all 
 
I20 DI^BSS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 pressure from the corn. For this purpose from eight to- 
 twelve pieces of hnen, smeared with an emolHent ointment, 
 and having an aperture cut in the middle exactly adapted 
 to the corn, are to be laid over each other, and so applied 
 to the foot that the corn is to lie in the opening in such a 
 manner that it can not be touched by the shoe or stockings 
 When the plaster has been applied some weeks the corn 
 commonly disappears without other means. Should the 
 corn be on the sole of the foot, it is only necessary to 
 put in the shoe a felt sole wherein a whole has been cut, 
 corresponding to the situation, size, and figure of the in- 
 duration. 
 
 "A corn may also be certainly, permanently, and speedily 
 eradicated by the following method, especially when the 
 plaster and felt with a hole in it are employed at the same 
 time. - The corn is to be rubbed twice a day with an emol- 
 lient ointment, such as that of marshmallows, or with the 
 volatile liniment, which is still better ; and in the interim it is 
 to be covered with a softening plaster. Every morning and 
 evening the foot is to be put, for half an hour, in warm 
 water, and while there the corn is to be well rubbed with 
 soap. Afterwards all the soft, white, pulpy matter outside 
 of the corn is to be scraped off with a blunt knife ; but the 
 scraping must be left off the moment the patient begins to 
 complain of pain from it. The same treatment is to be 
 persisted in without interruption until the corn is totally 
 extirpated, which is generally effected in eight or twelve 
 days. If left off sooner the com grows again." 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 121 
 
 The " Hydropathic Enclyclopaedia^^ recommends a more 
 summary mode of deahng. 
 
 " These well-known toe-tormenters are produced by tight 
 shoes or boots. The first principle of cure is to give the 
 feet a respectable * area of freedom ;' and the second is, to 
 soak them in warm water and shave off the horny substance, 
 and then touch them with the nitric or nitro-muriatic acid. 
 When the corn is inflamed or highly irritable, the tepid foot- 
 bath should be employed to remove this condition before 
 the acid is applied. The aqtia-regia — nitro-muriatic acid — 
 is the ordinary secret remedy of the ^ corn-curers.' When 
 the corn is fully formed, or ripe, a membrane separates it 
 from the true skin, so that it can be taken off without in- 
 juring that surface ; and this circumstance enables pro- 
 fessional chiropodists to ' elevate the grain ' on the point of 
 a penknife, after an application of the acid." 
 
 Another mode, similar in character, is taken from a late 
 work by Dr. Ira Warren. 
 
 " Corns should be shaved down close, after being soaked 
 in warm water and soap, and then covered with a piece of 
 wash-leather or buck-skin, on which lead plaster is spread, 
 a hole being cut in the leather the size of the corn. They 
 may be softened so as to be easily scooped out by rubbing 
 glycerine on them. Manganic acid destroys warts and 
 corns rapidly." 
 
 Still another, and one very easy to practice, is from Dr. 
 Calvin Cutter's " Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene." 
 
 " To remove these painful excrescences, take a thick 
 
122 JDI^BSS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 piece of soft leather, somewhat larger than the corn ; in 
 the centre punch a hole of the size of the summit of the 
 com ; spread the leather with adhesive plaster, and apply 
 it around the corn. The hole in the leather may be filled 
 with a paste made of soda and soap on going to bed. In 
 the morning remove it, and wash with warm water. Re- 
 peat this for several successive nights, and the corn will 
 be removed. The only precaution is, not to repeat the 
 application so as to cause pain." 
 
 It is altogether probable that the last treatment here 
 advised for hard corns would be equally effective for soft 
 ones, if we could contrive to cover up the surrounding 
 parts with a plaster so as to admit of its application. The 
 other remedies are, to keep continually cutting away at 
 them with the knife, or burn them out thoroughly with 
 causfic. 
 
 In all these cures the essential parts of the treatment 
 are, first, the emollient ointment or warm water to soften 
 the skin and remove soreness ; then caustics — soap and 
 soda, nitric, muriatic, and manganic acids — to destroy the 
 mass of the corn ; after which the remainder is lifted out 
 with a knife ; the leather and felt serving as a protection 
 from the shoe. 
 
 It is said, and with considerable evidence to support the 
 statement, that ordinary mild corns may be cured in a 
 couple of weeks by winding a cotton rag around the toe 
 or foot, so as to cover the corn with several thicknesses, 
 and then keeping this bandage constantly wet by bathing 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 123 
 
 the feet twice a day in cold water. To which it may be 
 added, that many corns will probably disappear if con- 
 stantly kept moist and soft in any manner, provided the 
 external irritation is entirely removed. 
 
 Very often it is the case that new corns, both hard and 
 soft, grow up in the places where they have been taken 
 away before, re-appearing, some of them, several times; 
 and it is a question if the common practice of putting 
 leather with a hole in it around the corn does not tend to 
 make the latter grow up again by pressing on the edges of 
 the cavity. It is perhaps better, therefore, that the leather 
 or felt be worn for some time after the corn is gone, to 
 keep the pressure of the boot away from the part till it 
 lias regained its natural condition, and it is well to make 
 • the hole in the plaster so large, that even the border of 
 the sensitive cavity will not be touched. When a surface 
 has been secreting corn-material for a length of time, it is 
 not strange that it should continue the habit without much 
 provocation. In these cases where the corn grows again, 
 it may perhaps be advisable to touch the most central 
 part, or place of the pointy with nitric acid or some other 
 caustic, to destroy the papillae, and change the structure 
 of the skin, as is done with a wart ; where it is so effectual 
 that the wart never re-appears. It is not necessary to 
 burn the surrounding surface, or make anything more than 
 a very small burn anywhere. The acid should be applied 
 with some sharp-pointed instrument, just wet with it, so 
 there shall be no danger of putting on too much. If there 
 
124 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 is any fear of creating too much inflammation, it can be 
 postponed till the acute sensitiveness has become some- 
 what abated. 
 
 For soft corns it is doubtful whether any other treat- 
 ment than burning will be completely successful, though 
 it may be well to try some other method first. Burning is 
 rather severe, but reasonably sure, and a thousand times 
 better, than to suffer from the corn. But little acid 
 need be applied at a time, and as soon as the under skin 
 becomes inflamed the desired effect is accomplished ; for 
 when it heals, the corn is " done for *' and gone. Some- 
 thing soft may be put between the toes to separate them, 
 and prevent any unnecessary irritation during the process. 
 
 Corns on the bottom of the foot are amenable to caustic 
 like the rest, the felt sole with a hole in it being used for 
 protection during the operation. 
 
 Inflamed and suppurated corns are to be cut down as 
 much as possible and lanced, according to Erichsen — one 
 of the best authorities — though it would seem to one un- 
 acquainted with the matter that they might be removed 
 like the others. They are intensely painful, and a sur« 
 geon's skill is necessary to treat them properly. 
 
 Some of the medical books represent that there is more 
 or less danger in using caustics in severe cases, where the 
 patient is an old person, or one of feeble vitality, or ex- 
 treme nervous sensibility. It is always well to proceed 
 safelyj'^and have medical advice before operating on such 
 a patient. 
 
DRESS AND ^CARE OF THE FEET. ' 125 
 
 In addition to the ordinary hard and soft varieties, 
 Mack and bleeding corns are described by one writer on 
 the subject, some of which are reported very difficult to 
 cure and dangerous to manage ; their injudicious removal 
 being liable to result in convulsions, and even lockjaw and 
 death ; all of which frightful consequences may be ac- 
 cepted as inducements to avoid the productive first causes 
 •of the trouble. 
 
 In regard to the treatment of bunions^ the following 
 from the " Hydropathic Encyclopaedia," is the only thing 
 we are able to find in the books. 
 
 " This affliction, though generally regarded as a kind of 
 corn, is really an inflammation and swelling of the bursa 
 mucosa^ at the inside of the ball of the great toe; it 
 often produces a distortion of the metatarsal joint of the 
 great toe, and is produced by the same causes as corns. 
 The treatment is, warm foot-baths when the part is very 
 tender and irritable ; at other times frequent cold baths ; 
 and when a horny substance, resembling a corn, appears 
 externally, the application of caustic. I have known bad 
 corns and bunions cease to be troublesome after the pa- 
 tient had been a few months under hydropathic treatment 
 for other complaints." 
 
 The straightening of the great toe in the manner pre- 
 viously described will probably do more toward the relief 
 and cure of bunions than any other remedy. The ma- 
 
 * The bursa mucosa is a synovial membrane lining the joint, and 
 secreting a lubricating fluid, like similar membranes in other joints. 
 
126 ' DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 
 
 terial of a shoe for that purpose should, of course, be soft 
 — the softest kinds of calfskin are good— but not of too 
 yielding a nature, or the toe and joint will force it into 
 their own abnormal shape in spite of the form of the shoe, 
 unless this can be prevented by a stiffening piece of sole- 
 leather at the ball (see Chapter Four), because the parts 
 tend to assume their old position, and do so, as far as the 
 leather will allow. With the ordinary shoe, all that carr 
 be done, is to give the foot the softest of leather — buck- 
 skin, when obtainable, is the best — and make the shoe 
 over a last having also a big joint upon it, made of sole- 
 leather, in the exact place to fit that of the foot, and thus 
 allow it plenty of room. 
 
 The callosities that come upon the heel, instep, or other 
 part of the foot, can almost always be lifted or scraped off, 
 without the necessity of using caustic, and there is less 
 probability of their re-appearing after the cause is removed 
 than in the case of corns. But if the pressure that caused 
 them first is continued, of course they grow again. When 
 they are so bad as to make it difficult to remove them 
 without softening, they can be subjected to the same treat- 
 ment which softens corns. 
 
 Sore insteps, big joints, and corns, when no positive 
 means are adopted for their cure or removal, may often 
 be made tolerably comfortable by having the shoe care- 
 fully adapted to fit them. This is done by making leather ^ 
 corns or joints on the lasts before the shoes are made. . 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 127 
 
 Particular places in a shoe can also, generally, be stretched, 
 
 so as to render them much more easy.* 
 
 Trusting that those readers who are not able to avail 
 
 themselves of the services of a professional chiropodist, 
 
 will here find a sufficient guide for the management of 
 
 ordinary difficulties of this kind, attention will next be 
 
 called to a re-statement of some of the ideas and points 
 
 of argument previously advanced in this treatise. 
 
 * It will, perhaps, not be amiss here to give a cure for chilblains, 
 taken fron! a recent work upon the "Movement Cure," by Dr. 
 George H. Taylor. It consists in raising the foot, with the shoe 
 upon it, and giving it thirty or forty smart blows upon the sole with 
 a heavy stick of convenient length to be handled. The shock upon 
 the foot dissipates the congestion of blood in the capillary vessels 
 under the skin, which causes the intense itching and smart. It is so 
 simple that every one afflicted ought to try it, and is asserted to be, 
 with few repetitions, a permanent cure. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Recapitulation — Lasts for Individual Feet — Possibility of all Fee 
 being Well Fitted in their Clothing — Ease and Grace of Move- 
 ment — A Last Word for Children. 
 
 "I ^ TE have heretofore endeavoured to show what is the 
 true, normal shape of the healthy foot, as recog- 
 nized by science, art, and common sense ; that in it the 
 toes lie directly forward of the metatarsal bones, in the 
 same line, having plenty of room for all of them to come 
 to the ground, or the surface on which they tread ; that 
 there is no occasion for growii-in-nails, big joints, or corns 
 until after the adoption of false habits in the manner of 
 the foot's clothing ; that the elevation of the instep is 
 made by a well-formed and distinct arch, the breaking- 
 down of which, as manifested in the flattened instep and 
 elongated heel, is unnatural ; that all the various deformi- 
 ties, weaknesses, and ailments pointed out and remarked 
 upon are so many vitiations or perversions of the foof s 
 condition. It has been made plain, also, that all our 
 present habits and ways of dressing the feet tend^ more or 
 less directly and strongly^ toward this depravity and dis- 
 tortion. We have seen that the common sole, by being 
 
DA'£SS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 129 
 
 curved where it should be straight — on its inside line — in- 
 evitably draws the great toe to one side, and all the toes 
 too closely together, pushing out the joint, creating corns 
 between and outside the toes, and lameness or bunion at 
 the joint itself; that this tendency is increased hy straight 
 and narrow-toed soles ; that it is made still worse by high 
 heels, which pitch the foot far forward ; while the practice 
 of wearing boots and shoes that are too short makes yet 
 another addition toward the production of the whole bad 
 result. 
 
 So also it is seen that the old-fashioned short heels, so 
 long worn, have had an influence in producing the broken- 
 down arch of the flat-foot ; while other defects in the 
 construction of the foot's covering manifest themselves by 
 callosities on the heel and instep, the turning over to one 
 side, and the pressure, squeezing, and general discomfort 
 in the fit. 
 
 We have, still further, tried to indicate what is the true, 
 natural, and proper shape of last, and wherein it differs 
 from those in common use. This it will do no harm to 
 re-state. First it was proven that a correctly-formed last 
 was not a thing to be changed by fashion or custom, but 
 on the contrary, to be as permanent in its form as that of 
 the foot which it imitates ; that one of its peculiarities was 
 the straight line on the inside, with the curve upon the out- 
 side ; that another was the spring, or curve on the bottom ; 
 another, the additional thickness over the place of the 
 great toe ; another, the level bottom side-wise, from the 
 
 9 
 
130 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 shank, through the middle, forward ; another, the placing 
 of the instep nearer to the side than is done in lasts of 
 the present time. This was offered as a positively sure 
 preventive of all those troubles arising from distortion of 
 the toes, while also having a tendency to encourage feet 
 already deformed in a return to their natural state. 
 
 From several of the positions thus taken, it necessarily 
 follows that straight lasts are entirely wrong in formation 
 and use, and that nothmg inferior to, or essentially di^erent 
 from, a right and left last of the for 7n described, can fully 
 serve the natural requirements of the foot. 
 
 For flat-footedness the long heel was recommended as 
 one great help toward recovering the natural position of 
 the arch. A long heel is the next best thing to no heel at 
 all. It supports the arch the most nearly as it is supported 
 when the bare foot is pressed upon the ground or floor. 
 Where this will not restore the shape, it will at least be 
 likely to prevent the fault from becoming any worse. The 
 other remedies— the proper exercise and full development 
 of the muscles at the bottom of the foot, and the righting 
 of it up when it treads inward — must be considered as in 
 no way inferior, if not superior, to the first. Taken to- 
 gether, they offer a strong encouragement to those who 
 wish to overcome the weakness, while they furnish a sure 
 prevention of it where it does not already exist. 
 
 The importance of having lasts made expressly to fit 
 
DJ^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. tst 
 
 individual feet has not been sufficiently urged. Though 
 many persons can get their feet very well fitted at any 
 time without them, and others may be so situated that 
 they can buy a handsomer and better article than they 
 can get made, yet where a good shoemaker can be relied 
 upon to make such a covering as is v/anted, there is 
 advantage in knowing how a good fit can always be 
 obtained. This is by having a pair of lasts made as 
 nearly right as possible, then allowing the shoemaker to 
 test and correct them after making a first pair of boots or 
 sboes on them, when they will be right for the remainder 
 of a lifetime. The shoemaker may also, after making the 
 first pair, have a pattern for any particular form of the 
 upper, likewise corrected and made reliable for further 
 use. The expense of such lasts is not great, and the cus- 
 tom shoemaker can himself furnish those from his own 
 stock for a large proportion of his customers, altering and 
 fitting them up as may be necessary, and supplying their 
 places v/ith others from the lastmaker. They will need to 
 be so fitted up that they can be slightly raised or lessened 
 in size for thick or thin stockings, or an increase or de- 
 crease of flesh. If a perfect fit is not made when they 
 are used the second time, a further slight correction will 
 insure it. After this there will be no dissatisfaction on the 
 part of the buyer ; no fear of loss by misfits on the part 
 of the maker. Those who have any peculiar notion about 
 their foot-apparel can be suited. There will be very little 
 trouble from delay, or from getting the foot accustomed to 
 
 9—2 
 
132 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 the boot when first worn. Still further, and better, the 
 danger of making corns, bunions, grown-in nails, and sore 
 insteps is reduced to almost nothing; for the covering,, 
 being a good fit, is neither tight nor loose, and does not 
 pinch, cramp, or chafe any part of the foot. 
 
 All these considerations are much more forcible when 
 the feet differ from an ordinary size and shape. A ready- 
 made article to fit cannot be bought. It is often difficult 
 for even the best mechanic to make work that will fit 
 easily and handsomely upon feet that are flat, and have 
 corns and large joints besides — a combination of difficul- 
 ties he is frequently called upon to meet. There is the 
 additional fact that many feet can seldom or never be 
 measured twice alike, for all feet vary in size under dif- 
 ferent conditions, and some of them a great deal; and 
 hence the uncertainty of being fitted by a shoemaker the 
 first time he is employed.''^ But when a last of the right 
 
 * To those custom shoemakers who continue trying to fit everybody 
 without any specially-made lasts it is suggested that in some of the 
 most difficult they make a trial shoe, the upper for it being cut from 
 some cheap material, such as cotton drilling for representing serge or 
 cloth, and split-leather or sheepskin for leather^uppers, while a piece 
 of insole-leather will answer for the bottom. The upper can be sewed 
 together without lining, only some eyelets being necessary for lacing, 
 and when drawn over such a last as is judged likely to fit the foot it 
 may be roughly fastened down all around with a waxed thread. After 
 trial on the customer's foot, the upper can be ripped off and the sole- 
 leather used for an insole or something else, while if the shoe fits badly 
 the last is easily modified, before making a permanent article. The 
 same plan might be tried with any new last designed for a particular 
 foot. 
 
BJ^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 133 
 
 size, length, width, and general shape has been obtained, 
 with all the corns, joints, sore insteps and other peculiari- 
 ties fairly represented upon it, the owner may expect more 
 comfort for the feet, and a better-looking boot, than has 
 ever been realized for them before. But such a last can- 
 not be made perfectly correct at first, and the customer 
 must not be discouraged at finding a little difficulty. The 
 final satisfaction will repay all the trouble. 
 
 A pair of lasts for boots^ if made in the right way, with 
 a good width at the shank (or just above it), while rather 
 narrow at the top, and with a full amount of spring at the 
 toe, can be used for making j-^^^j* and slippers^ in ordinary 
 cases, by filUng up the shank with a piece of sole-leather 
 in a way well known to custom shoemakers ; although the 
 most perfect results are obtained by having a separate 
 pair designed for slippers and low shoes. Those who 
 have difficult feet had better limit themselves to one pair 
 for all kinds of coverings. 
 
 There is hence no need of feet being badly fitted be- 
 cause they are badly shaped, if their possessors will act 
 upon the suggestions given. Yet it must not be expected 
 that big joints and flat insteps can be made handsome by 
 any degree of skill ; they can be well fitted, but their 
 shape remains visible. 
 
 A boot or shoe ought to fit easily, yet snugly and 
 smoothly, all over the foot — around the heel and ankle as 
 well as the forward part There is no necessity for pinch- 
 ing the instep or crowding the toes ; no occasion for loose 
 
134 ■ DRLSS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 leather at the ankle and heel ; no propriety in wrinkles 
 over the instep of a flat foot, nor having a slipper loose at 
 the sides. All boots must have wrinkles at the ankle, and 
 all kinds of covering must have some across the foot at 
 the joints. There need not be any of marked size else- 
 where, nor should these be as large as they commonly are. 
 A new boot should be put on with care to avoid making 
 them. 
 
 The ease and grace of movement connected with feet 
 in their normal condition, and when properly dressed, has 
 been hinted at several times previously. This is a con- 
 sideration almost entirely overlooked ; yet it is not a thing 
 of small importance. Everybody, in greater or less de- 
 gree, admires grace and beauty. Nearly everyone who 
 has a consciousness of being awkward in any way, suffers 
 from that feeling or knowledge. This love of the beauti- 
 ful is as much a part of human nature as conscience ; and 
 contributes as much to our pleasure as almost any other 
 sentiment or affection. When turned more in this direc- 
 tion, as it should be, it will appreciate beauty in the feet 
 as quickly as elsewhere. Its influence must be brought 
 to bear in developing the true and elegant in this depart- 
 ment, no less than in others. It should appreciate a well- 
 formed foot, whether small or large ; and a graceful, easy 
 step in the street as well as in the ball-room. Let the 
 shuffling or stamping gait of flat-footed persons generally,, 
 be contrasted with the light yet dignified carriage of those 
 >vhose feet are properly arched ; let the stiff walk of a man^ 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 135 
 
 in tight boots be noticed, and then the step of one who 
 goes along in a pair of hght, easy shoes with low heels. 
 The difference in each of these cases will be very plain. 
 A person cannot walk easily and handsomely— much less 
 i^tm — in boots that are uncomfortable, or with corns and 
 sore joints crying out at every step. High heels neces- 
 sarily give an unnatural character to the step, because the 
 heel of the foot does not come near the surface, as Nature 
 intended. The weight of the body is thrown too much 
 upon the forward part of the foot, which would seem 
 likely to have some tendency toward breaking it down, 
 while it prevents that very spring upon the ball and toes 
 which is the most essential thing in grace/id walking,^ 
 
 ^' The effects upon the foot are not the only bad results springing 
 from heels that are extremely high. The work of Dr. C. F. Taylor 
 has already been quoted from to show the influence of weak ankles 
 in developing lateral curvature of the spine. We also find in it 
 some hints concerning stoop-shoulders, which are thus expressed. 
 
 " Man has a much narrower base of sustentation than most other 
 animals, which renders it important that that base should not be 
 lessened by cramping the feet in narrow shoes, rendering progression 
 difficult, awkward, and quickly fatiguing. But probably the most 
 serious fault in the feet-coverings is the elevated heel often given to 
 them. By elevating the heel, besides the still narrower base given, 
 . whether in progression or standing, the anatomical relations of the 
 w^hole body as an instrument of locomotion are materially changed. 
 As in lateral curvature of the spine, a deviation from the proper 
 position at one point may cause several other compensating curves at 
 other points, so an improper position of one part of the locomotive 
 apparatus will cause a succession of other false positions of other 
 parts. By elevating the heel and constantly keeping the flexors of 
 the feet [the muscles on the upper side] on the stretch, relief to them 
 is instinctively sought by a slight flexion at the knee; this would 
 
136 ' DI^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 Besides this, it is known that high heels prevent the full 
 growth of the calf of the legy by preventing the full exer- 
 cise of those muscles which raise the heel at cveiy step. 
 As it is kept constantly raised already by an inch and a 
 half of leather under it, of course there is less required 
 of the muscles, and they are decreased in size. 
 
 Stiffness, also, has a decided effect upon the carriage of 
 the body. One who has always worn stift*, clumsy foot- 
 gear has a stiff, awkward walk, because all the muscles of 
 the foot and leg brought into play by natural walking have 
 been interfered with and cramped by the miserable clogs 
 on the feet. As these will bend, or allow the foot to bend, 
 but very little, there can be but little use of the muscles 
 which form the calf of the lee and raise the heel. Hence 
 
 destroy tlic perpendicularity of the figure, wore not another shght 
 flexion made at the hips ; but as this would throw the trunk forwaixli 
 still another tlexion backwaixi is required, and then forward, etc. 
 But in the spinal column a compromise is effected by a for\vard 
 curve and inclination of the head. Thus, high heels tend to produce 
 and permanently establish a succession of zigzags from the ankles 
 upward, with the weight of the body supported by the tension of the 
 muscles, and not, as in erect stature, by the bony framework." — 
 Theory and Practice of the Miwemetit-Cure, p. 75. 
 
 The position here described is an approach to that assumed by old 
 people — those " bent over by age " — who are unable from weakness 
 to stand upright. The abdominal muscles are relaxed, the chest 
 sinks, the head falls forward, and the spine adapts itself by bending 
 at the neck and shoulders. The author goes on to show that these 
 effects are felt more sensibly by women than by men, and that their 
 diseases and weaknesses are thus rendered more aggravated, and the 
 complete cure of them retarded or prevented by the wearing of high 
 heels. 
 
DI^JSSS AND CARE OF THE FEET, 137 
 
 the calf remains weak and undeveloped, instead of pre- 
 senting the full, round, muscular appearance it shows in a 
 well-developed leg, and which is so necessary to a light, 
 easy, elastic step, and graceful movement. 
 
 The fashionable world — those people whom the earnest 
 thinker and the practical utilitarian look upon almost as 
 useless idlers in the community — still have their supe- 
 riority in one direction, over the thinker or business man, 
 which must be fairly acknowledged. They are artists in 
 the matter of dress and personal ornamentation. They 
 possess that taste and keen sense of the beautiful which 
 forms everything around them into elegance, grace, and 
 charm. Though they sometimes sacrifice strength and 
 usefulness, and often go to foolish extremes, as do the 
 plainer sort in an opposite way, yet they generally manifest 
 ii propriety in dress and surroundings which compels the 
 admiration even of those sensible and steady ones who 
 think so highly of the useful, but depreciate the value of 
 beauty. 
 
 To the fashionable class, then, no less than to others 
 we appeal to adopt a fashion in dressing the feet which 
 will tend strongly to develop beauty in their form and 
 appearance^ and grace in all their movejiients. What this 
 is, has been sufficiently well explained. It may be added 
 that no one should be satisfied without a good fit, and an 
 article as tasteful and carefully selected as anything that 
 is wo rn upon the head, or any other part of the person. 
 The foot has the same right to be well dressed that is 
 possessed by any other portion of the body. 
 
138 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 A shape of the sole that would be a compromise between 
 the common form and the correct one, has been suggested 
 for the benefit of those who could not be persuaded to 
 have anything better. This is a good one for such feet 
 as are somewhat distorted at the toes, and whose owners 
 are not disposed to attempt any correction. But we pro- 
 test against putting anything less perfect than the " Ex- 
 celsior '^ upon young feet, that are still undeformed, and 
 hence entitled to a covering that will correspond. Parents 
 have no right to treat their children in such a way as to 
 induce any of the troubles that have been described. But 
 this they are almost sure to do, in greater or less degree, 
 by compelling them to wear the ordinary boot and shoe. 
 It is true the better kind cannot be obtained ready-made 
 at first, though the demand will produce them in a reason- 
 able time, yet some approach to the true thing can be 
 made by a shoemaker of intelligence and ingenuity, even 
 though, in the absence of proper lasts, he is obliged to 
 alter and improve some which he already has. Some day 
 the better article will be both obtainable and inexpensive. 
 In the mean time those most interested must take the best 
 substitute within their reach— that which comes nearest 
 the true standard. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Miscellaneous — Criticism of Different Forms and Fashions — Elasti- 
 city — Sensitiveness — Rubbers and Weiterproof Leather — Cure for 
 Sweating — Qualities of a good Covering. 
 
 T T has been said that fashion should never be allowed 
 to change the shape of the sole, or interfere with the 
 form of the lasts used in the construction of the foot's 
 coverings. This restriction, however, does not apply to 
 the materials of which they are made, nor the form into 
 which the uppers may be cut. The latter may be of a great 
 variety of forms, and the material of almost any kind or 
 quality, and of all colours and descriptions of ornamenta- 
 tion. Yet there are many particulars that are matters of 
 style now, which will give way to something different in 
 another year, or in two or three years. Each of the different 
 kinds of boots has certain peculiar advantages which, in 
 addition to its being fashionable, contribute to make it 
 popular. The side-spring boot, that has been a favourite 
 so long, seldom slips at the heel, and this is a decidedly 
 good point ; it also, by fitting closely at the ankles, gives 
 a feeling of snugness and security which is comfortable. 
 
140 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 while it admits of perfect freedom in all movements of the 
 ankle in walking. There is less trouble in putting it on and 
 off than with most other descriptions of boots and shoes 
 which is a recommendation to many people who value time 
 or dislike extra labour. 
 
 The Bahnoral boot for ladies has its recommendation in 
 its superiority of fit. This has made, and keeps it, a favour- 
 ite, causing it to be more generally worn than any other. 
 The manner of lacing enables the wearer to draw it smooth 
 and snug over the instep and around the heel and ankle — 
 an advantage possessed by no other, except, partially, by 
 the side-laced boot ; which is likely to come again into 
 favour. 
 
 The Polish boot takes the place of the Balmoral when a 
 greater height upon the leg is required. There is no other 
 difference in its form, and the quality of fit is the same. Its 
 worst disadvantage is the amount of time required in lacing 
 and unlacing it, although, when made of thick leather, it 
 may have a slight cramping effect upon the muscles of the 
 ankle. 
 
 The Button boot, often called the Hungarian, when cut 
 high like the Polish, is at this time the most fashionable. 
 It is quite as handsome, but has not usually the neatness 
 of fit which the Balmoral possesses. 
 
 One style, not generally introduced, but of which a pair 
 has been made occasionally, is superior to the Polish or 
 Hungarian in that there is only half as much trouble in 
 lacing. It may be made very high — thirteen inches, if 
 
DJ^BSS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 141 
 
 desired — being laced or buttoned about as far up as the 
 Balmoral, when the upper part of one quarter is folded over 
 past the opening, and fastened with two or three handsome 
 clasps attached to elastic straps, which give and retract 
 sufficiently to accommodate the action of the leg, while at 
 the same time the leg is snugly fitted. This is a good 
 heavy winter boot for ladies, where an extreme height or 
 length of leg is in demand. The Highland buckle is similar 
 to it, the part that laps over being fastened with one in- 
 elastic strap. We have also noticed a high boot made 
 with gores like the side-spring — one at the ankle and two 
 above on each side — which would seem to be a very 
 convenient thing to put on, but one that needs the best 
 gores to make it serviceable. It is not probable that either 
 of these varieties will be extensively popular. The first is 
 of the three the most deserving. 
 
 The quality needed by all laced, buckled, or buttoned 
 boots is elasticity at the leg, ankle, or instep, such as is 
 possessed at one point — the ankle — by the side- spring. A 
 great advantage would be gained if this elasticity could be 
 extended down even to the ball or joint. One purpose of 
 it is to give free play to the muscles of the leg and ankle, 
 and also allow the foot to lengtheji and spread without 
 hindrance as its arches expand under the weight of the body 
 in walking or standing; and another is to keep the tipper 
 closely drawn over all parts of the foot, a^ikle, and leg, 
 when the arches are contracted and the muscles inactive, 
 as in a state of rest; both objects — ease to the foot and 
 
142 BI^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 beauty of fit — being secured by the same mea^is. Buckle 
 and button boots for gentlemen, with this quality sup- 
 plied at the ankle by a narrow goring on one side of it, 
 while the buckles or buttons are on the other side, have 
 lately been made. The gored Oxford shoe supplies the 
 elasticity at the instep. Perhaps some other style can be 
 invented that will do as much for the ball and transverse 
 arch as these kinds have done for the parts above. Any 
 boot or shoe with this peculiarity is superior to the same 
 thing without it. It must not, of course, be supposed 
 that such a shoe will fit a thick or a slim foot equally well, 
 for the elastic maybe too tight for ease in one case, and too 
 loose for a good fit in the other. 
 
 In connection with this matter, strong elastic cords for 
 laces are suggested as worthy of a trial in Balmoral and 
 Polish boots. If successful, they accomplish the same 
 result as elastic goring, and, besides, may be drawn 
 tightly or loosely to meet the defect of the boot, or suit 
 the convenience or taste of the wearer. 
 
 Cloth and leather materials are joined together in 
 ladies' work in all sorts of proportions. In regard to this 
 practice it may be said that those kinds of shoes in which 
 the higher part is made of cloth or lasting, and the lower 
 and forward parts of leather, are to be preferred for one 
 reason : the softer part at the ankle allows of more free- 
 dom and ease to the muscles, while the leather below 
 serves all the purposes it would if extending throughout, 
 and thus the advantages of both are combined. There is 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 143 
 
 no difficulty in making this union, whatever the cut of 
 the boot may be — whether gored, laced, or buttoned. 
 
 Tender feet may find what suits their wants in the 
 softer kinds of kid and morocco, when cloth is not pre- 
 ferred. There is no reason why a woman's boot, though 
 a heavy one, should be hard and stiff ; as a good quality 
 of oiled morocco, pebbled calf, or calf-kid leather, to 
 iDe obtained almost anywhere, will commonly be found 
 pliable enough, even for moderately sensitive corns. Still 
 more softness may be given by double linings of flannel. 
 
 There is no leather worn by ladies that is water-proof, 
 and that quality ought not to be expected. Their heaviest 
 boots are made with a double sole and double upper, 
 which give additional warmth, and protect against 
 'Ordinary dampness. But the only thing they have as a 
 sure protection against v/et is rubber. Rubber sandals or 
 shoes for the sidewalk or a rainy day, and high rubber 
 boots for snow, are a complete security. 
 
 Men are, in this respect, better provided for. There 
 are several kinds of leather worn by them which, if satu- 
 rated with grease or special preparations, will be water- 
 proof, though exposed for a considerable time. They 
 liave the benefit of rubber besides. 
 
 The Napoleon tongued boot, for a heavy one, is sup- 
 posed to have a superiority of fit about the ankle, and is 
 more tasteful in a general way. 
 
 The double-footed boot is considered, with some reason, 
 to be warmer than a single one of the same thickness. 
 
144 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET: 
 
 For men's feet that are very sensitive to cold, perhaps the 
 best thing is a doubled boot, having the inside part, or 
 foot-lining, made of fur-calf — calf skin dressed with the 
 hair on — or some other kind of fur. Arctic overshoes 
 are very excellent for riding in cold weather, provided 
 they are not too small. Cork soles, covered with wool or 
 flannel, for either sex, are another help toward keeping 
 the feet warm, with which, in addition to flannel linings 
 and other provisions, the most cold-footed ought to be 
 tolerably comfortable. It must not, however, be expected 
 to keep the feet warm in any kind of a covering that is 
 tight. 
 
 But as this kind of sensitiveness is, in healthy persons, 
 very much a matter of habit, it is perhaps quite as well 
 for such to accustom themselves to wearing an ordinary 
 doubled boot through the winter, unless much exposed, 
 and put on a light boot, shoe, or gaiter for the summer. 
 Appropriateness and adaptation to weather or circum- 
 stances are always to be considered. A heavy leather 
 boot with double sole is as much out of place and time in 
 a wami day, as a light cloth gaiter in a snow-storm. 
 While the latter would expose the foot unnecessarily, the 
 first, besides being uncomfortable, keeps the foot in an 
 unnaturally sensitive condition. It is not intended to 
 make any suggestions to invalids. We only state the 
 well-known rule that exposure to cold makes the feet, or 
 any other part of the body, more hardy, when there is an 
 ordinary state of health, or sufficient blood in the system: 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 145 
 
 to be easily drawn to the surface by this demand. Where 
 there is too little vitality for this, the experience of the 
 person or the counsel of the physician is the best guide. 
 So also in regard to dampness or wetting the feet. While 
 making no law for sickly or feeble constitutions, it seems 
 to us very evident that the more often the feet are exposed 
 to damp or wet, the greater the ability acquired by the 
 system to resist it ;* and that when the feet happen to get 
 wet only occasionally, the consequences of the exposure 
 are proportionately more serious. It is probable that if 
 care were taken to keep the feet comfortably war?7iwhenwet, 
 either by exercise, as in walking, or in some other manner, 
 there would be very little danger from the wet alone, 
 unless in cases of invalid feebleness, or where they were 
 dampened so seldom that the intelligence of the physical 
 system was unprepared for such an occurrence. 
 
 One of the well-established facts of physiology is that any- 
 thing worn upon the feet which, like rubber or patent lea- 
 ther, prevents the passingoff of the insensible perspiration, 
 
 * It may become an important problem to the physiologist and 
 physician to determine whether the same law does not hold good in 
 respect to whatever is naturally injurious to the human constitution 
 in a?iy way, so long as its resisting power is not overbalanced. If 
 all kinds of unhealthy conditions, surroundings, and exposures can 
 be made to produce the good effects of healthful stimulation when 
 made use of to the proper extent, however little that may be, while 
 only past that limit they become destructive, then a change will 
 come over a great many notions and practices. Some facts are 
 reconciled by such a theory which are othenvise quite contradictory. 
 
146 DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 is detrimental to the health. Those who regard the organic 
 laws as having any sacredness, will not use patent leather 
 boots covering the whole foot, for constant wear, but limit 
 them to particular occasions. Rubbers ought to be re- 
 moved, and something else substituted in their place, as 
 soon as the feet come out of the wet which occasions their 
 being put on. The same is true of all boots that are water- 
 proof. They should be worn only when times of exposure 
 make them necessary. This is sufficiently well known 
 with regard to rubbers ; but few know that leather boots 
 are objectionable, for the same reason, in proportion as they 
 are watertight. There are comparatively few of them 
 which are perfectly so ; yet there are many, which, worn 
 as they are, day after day, in dry weather as well as wet, 
 must, by retaining a large part of the foot's perspiration, 
 have an unhealthful effect. It is a good practice to bathe 
 the feet after removing a pair of waterproof boots which 
 have been worn during the day. With many men this is 
 a necessity, and it would be such with many more if they 
 knew all the requirements of the laws of hygiene, to say 
 nothing of any other reason. To give the boots themselves 
 a washing-out occasionally might be advantageous. The 
 feet must be allowed to perspire naturally, or the skin in 
 some other part is liable to be overtasked ; and it is stated 
 by medical authorities that skin diseases have been pro- 
 duced by neglect of the feet in this particular. 
 
 The following cure for abnormal sweating of the feet is 
 taken from one of our first-class periodicals ;* and from the 
 * Appleton's y(?«r;2a/— department devoted to Science, 
 
VZ) CARE OF THE FEET. 147 ' 
 
 nature of the remedy it would seem that it ought to have 
 the effect indicated. 
 
 " Pulverized tannin sprinkled inside the boots or shoes 
 in three days prevents tender feet from perspiring and 
 blistering. Tanning thus applied, rapidly strengthens and 
 hardens the skin, softened by the simultaneous action of 
 moisture and heat ; perspiration being thus reduced to the 
 proper degree, without its healthy action being in the 
 slightest interfered with, the exhalations as a matter of 
 course cease to be offensive. The cessation of disagree- 
 able odours is explained by the fact that the products of 
 the ammoniacal decomposition of the skin are immediately 
 combined with the tannin and so carried off.'" 
 
 Rubber-soled shoes for ladies, with leather or other 
 material for the uppers, have been manufactured to a slight 
 extent ; and, as far as we know, are a success. The objec" 
 tion on account of health does not apply to them seriously, 
 because the rubber is at the bottom. Possibly, however, 
 an uncomfortable effect may be produced upon the sole of 
 the foot. 
 
 Water-proof serge or lasting, also, is among the late 
 inventions. It is claimed to be sufficiently porous to 
 allow the escape of perspiration, yet water-proof under all 
 ordinary exposure. The two qualities are incompatible 
 and if really water-proof it is only fit, like rubber, to be 
 worn occasionally. 
 
 Cloth materials of different kinds have been much worn. 
 They permit a partial saving of leather, and are equally 
 
148 DI^ESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 
 
 handsome. They are hght, soft, may be made sufficiently 
 warm, and are far more favourable to health. They answer 
 nearly every requirement for a good shoe, except the defence 
 against dampness ; and their wearing ought to be en- 
 couraged. The defect named must be supplied by rubbers. 
 
 Nearly all the coarser and cheaper kinds of men's shoe 
 goods have the bad quahty of general stiffness. Their 
 wearing makes, in a very decided and proper sense, stiff 
 feet. They are all the worse for having pegged soles. 
 Whether the soles are curved or straight makes not much 
 difference, for the stiffness prevents the use of either the 
 upper or lower set of the foot's muscles. As these goods 
 can not be generally manufactured at the present time 
 without being made stiff by pegs, in addition to the firm- 
 ness of the leather, there is but little chance for improve- 
 ment. Those obhged to wear them are advised to do so 
 only so far as they are compelled, and to keep the upper 
 parts in as pliable a condition as possible by frequent appli- 
 cations of oil. It is to be hoped that something softer will 
 some time take their place. 
 
 The value of all these various styles, and of any other 
 that may come up hereafter, may be tested by the presence 
 or absence of the following general qualities : sufficient 
 porosity of the upper to admit the passage of the insensible 
 perspiration ; softness and pliability sufficient to allow of 
 ease and comfort to the foot in all its movements ; flexi- 
 bility and elasticity that will yield to accommodate the 
 action of the muscles at the ankle and top of the foot, yet 
 
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET. 149 
 
 -draw the upper tight enough to fit smoothly ; general good 
 shape and proportion ; flexibility of sole ; strength for pro- 
 tection and service. The more of these there can be com- 
 bined into any species of foot-clothing the better will the 
 foot be protected and preserved, and at the least expense 
 of money and trouble in proportion to the benefit gained. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 BILLING, PRINTER, GUIILDFORD, SURREY. 
 

 
 X,MT D'" 
 
 boo«- 
 
 0? 
 
 
 25 
 
 Re 
 
 i 
 

 88. 8-w*Sl-8T -oov | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 y^ ~~ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 -'-' 
 
 865998 
 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY