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foot. The bandages are then re-applied. I regret to say the same 
foolish prejudice in favour of a small useless foot prevails in 
England. A lady complacently told me one day that when she 
was staying at a country house her shoes were always taken to 
the nursery. They take them for one of the children’s shoes, 
you know.” ‘ Yes,’’ I replied, ‘‘ the same thing has happened to 
-me. They once took a shoe of mine to the nursery. They took it 
for the cradle, you know.’ To get the full power of the foot in 
walking, the big toe should be parallel to a line drawn through the 
centre of the foot, and the toe part should expand at least an inch 
when we bear our weight on it. But which of us after infancy has 
feet like this? The toes of babies are almost as prehensile as 
their fingers, and they ought to retain this power, more or less, 
during adult life It is only in deference to a foolish fashion that 
we consider small and pointed shoes becoming. In the reign of 
Henry VIII., broad toed roomy shoes were worn, and no doubt 
admired. 
Although the fashion of altering and distorting the shape of 
the head does not now obtain among civilized nations, yet it 
‘is one of the most ancient and widely spread customs that ever 
existed, and skulls have been discovered dating at least as far back 
as the stone age, showing this artificial deformity. Hippocrates, 
B.C. 400 speaks of a nation whom he calls the Macrocephali, from 
the size of their heads, who lived on the borders of the sea of 
Azoff. They considered him the most noble who had the largest 
head. I wonder if this is the real origin of our term “ long 
headed,” for shrewd and clever? The fashion of modifying the 
shape of the head is very widely spread, and exists in Asia, Africa, 
and America; now, of course only among more or less savage 
tribes The prevailing fashion is the conical head, though some 
tribes prefer the head flattened from the front and back, or laterally. 
Even in France or England the fashion of compressing the head in 
infancy with circular bandages has existed within the memory of 
living men. The prevalence of bald heads is attributed to the 
wearing of tight hard hats, and in former days to wearing night 
caps. The usual method of compression is to place the baby’s 
head between two flat boards which are hinged at one end, and 
gradually to increase the pressure by tightening the side strings. 
When the fond mother has produced the coveted deformity, she 
feels she has really done her duty towards her offspring. 
From the head to the hair is an easy transition, and as the hair 
' lends itself so readily to all changes, so there is positively 
no limit to the fantastic tricks which are played with it. 
With most nations the hair is considered an ornament, and a 
luxuriant head of hair becoming to a woman. The Fijian ladies, 
