PHYSICAL EDUCATION. 155 



can see no reason why my pupil should always have a piece of ox-hide 

 under his foot," says the author of "Emile." . . . " Let him run bare- 

 foot wherever he pleases. . . . Far from growling about it, I shall 

 imitate his example." * 



Refusing to buy tight shoes might bring easy ones into fashion ; 

 but boys are better off without them, especially in the years of rapid 

 growth, when their measure changes from month to month, for too 

 wide shoes are as uncomfortable as tight ones. Out-doors, children's 

 stockings are almost sure to get wet, and keep the feet clammy and cold ; 

 while a young gypsy or a Scotchman, inured to wind and weather, treads 

 with his bare feet the swampiest valleys and the roughest hill-roads 

 without the least discomfort. Nature produces a better sole-leather 

 than any shoemaker ; the tegument of a raccoon's foot or a monkey's 

 hind-hand can give us an idea of the marvels of her workmanship. The 

 sole of a plantigrade animal is not hard ; on the contrary, quite pliable 

 and soft to the touch, but withal tougher than any caoutchouc, imper- 

 vious alike to water, sand, and thorns. A camel, too, has a foot of that 

 sort pads that resist the burning gravel of the desert for years, where 

 a horse's hoof would wear out in a few weeks ; for the same reason 

 that a *' sand-blast " destroys tanned sole-leather and horn, but hardly 

 affects the elastic skin of the human hand. Millions of unshod Hin- 

 doos, negroes, and South American savages, brave the jungles of the 

 tropical virgin woods ; and in Nicaragua I saw two Indian mail- 

 carriers trot barefoot over the lava-beds of Amilpas, over fields of 

 obsidian and scoria, where a dandy in patent-leather gaiters would 

 have feared to tread. Three or four seasons of barefoot rambles over 

 the fields and hills will develop such soles natural shoe-leather that 

 improves from year to year, till it can be warranted to protect the 

 wearer against the roughest roads, and, as the experience of our half- 

 wild frontiersmen attests, also against colds and rheumatism. A mere 

 moccasin secures such hardy feet against frost-bites ; for here, too, the 

 rule holds good that those who keep themselves too warm in the sum- 

 mer season deprive themselves of the advantage to be derived from 

 additional clothing in cold weather and in old age. 



Herr Teuf elsdrockh devoted a voluminous work to the " Philosophy 

 of Clothing," but the practical part of the science may be summed up 

 in a few words. Our dress ought to be adapted to the changes of 

 the seasons, and should be in quality durable, cleanly, and, above all, 

 easy ; in quantity, the least amount compatible with decency and 

 comfort. 



* " Pourquoi faut-il que mon eleve soit force d'avoir toujours sous les pieds une peau 

 de boeuf ? Quel mal y aurait-il que la sienne propre put au besoin lui servir de semelle ? 

 II est clair qu'en cette partie la delicatesse de la peau ne peut jamais etre utile k rien et 

 peut souvent beaucoup nuire. Que Emile coure les matins a pieds nus, en toute saison, 

 par le chambre, par I'escalier, par le jardin ; loin de Ten grondir je I'imitirai." (Rous- 

 seau : " Emile, ou de L'education," p. 143.) 



