THE PREHENSILE FOOT OF EAST INDIANS. 489 



life of internal amity. To which it should be added that under 

 the one set of conditions there is little or no ethical, or rather 

 pro-ethical, reprobation of lying; while under the other set of 

 conditions the pro-ethical reprobation of lying, and in consider- 

 able measure the ethical reprobation, become strong. 



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THE PREHENSILE FOOT OF EAST INDIANS. 



By M. F. REGNAULT. 



THE traveler who walks in the native quarters of the cities of 

 India can easily study there all industries in their beginnings, 

 as they were probably practiced in Europe in the middle ages. 

 The shops are usually open, and the workmen can be seen inside ; 

 textile industries, pottery, shoemaking, joinering, armoring, jew- 

 elry, confectioners all can be observed in a single street like 

 Chitpore Street, Calcutta. If we take pains to examine atten- 

 tively the methods of working, we shall be struck by the enor- 

 mous function played by the lower limb. Whatever the industries, 

 the Indian, squatting or sitting on the ground, works with his feet 

 as well as with his hands ; and it might be said that all four of 

 his limbs are in constant exercise. The joiner, for example, has 

 no assistant to hold his plank, but makes his great toe serve that 

 purpose. The shoemaker does not employ a fixed clamp for the 

 shoe on which he is sewing, but holds it in his feet, which change 

 position to suit his convenience, while his nimble hands do the 

 sewing. The metal-worker holds the joint of his shears on his 

 feet in cutting copper. 



In the making of wooden combs I have seen the comb held 

 straight up by the feet, while the workmen marked the teeth with 

 one hand and with the other directed the instrument that cut 

 them. The wood-turner directs the hand-rest with his great toes ; 

 so, generally, do Egyptian and Arabian turners. In smoothing 

 twine or sewing a bridle the Indians hold the article between the 

 first and second toes. When the butcher cuts his meat into small 

 pieces, he holds his knife between the first and second toes, takes 

 the meat in both hands, and pulls it up across the knife. I have 

 seen a child climb a tree and hold a branch between his toes. 

 These are enough details concerning the constant, universal use 

 of the foot. 



In considering this property of the lower limb, it is well to dis- 

 tinguish between the parts that relate, first, to the articulation of 

 the hip, which, being very loose, permits the Indian to squat in 

 such a position that his foot shall not be very far from his hands, 

 so as to make all four participate in the work and permit the whole 



