492 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Fig. 3. Normal Position of the Foot. 



was asked to bring the two toes as near together as possible, he 

 could not make them touch ; there was still a space between them, 

 as in Fig. 2. All gradations may be observed between this maxi- 

 mum of separation and a foot on which no separation can be per- 

 ceived in ordinary attitudes. 



Among thirty-seven persons examined in Pondicherry, I only 

 found eight in whom there was a separation. It is therefore not 



constant in the Indian race. The 

 distance between the ends of the 

 toes may vary in the same person 

 by ten or even by twenty millime- 

 tres, accordingly as they are drawn 

 together or apart by the muscles of 

 the foot alone, and without using 

 the hand. They may usually be 

 made to touch when brought to- 

 gether. But it will be observed 

 that they only touch at the ends. 

 At the root the separation per- 

 sists. The distance between the 

 toes, there, may be diminished, but does not vanish, when they 

 are brought together, and it may be increased when they are 

 spread out. 



Figs. 3, 4, and 5 illustrate these facts. They are accurate, being 

 the traces, taken with a pencil, of the toes in different positions ; 

 and it should be kept in mind that the separation and the draw- 

 ing together are due solely to the ac- 

 tion of the muscles of the foot. 



This anatomical disposition may 

 occur in other Indians as well as in 

 Tamils. I have found it among the 

 Bengalis, in three of whom I have 

 drawn it, but it is not frequent among 

 them. With none, however, in all my 

 investigations, have I found it as 

 strongly accentuated as with the Tri- 

 chinopolitan whom I have used as a 

 type. It appears to be rare among 



; r ll Iig. 4. The same, with the Toes 



the Singhalese, but their feet have brought together. 



the prehensile property. 



An interesting point in the feature is the possibility, by means 

 of it, of using a peculiar patten, which consists of a flat piece of 

 wood cut in the form of the foot, with a peg between the first and 

 second toes, by which the shoe is held on. It is used only in the low 

 castes. Four pairs of these pattens may be seen in the collec- 

 tion of shoes in the Cluny Museum. In two of them the peg is 



