FOOT AND FOREARM AS LEVERS 



59 



muscles of the calf, although losing in power, can lift 

 their load more quickly and to a greater extent. 



We must look closely at the foot lever if we are to 

 understand it. It is arched or bent ; the front pillar of 

 the arch stretches from the summit or keystone, where 

 the weight of the body is poised, to the pad of the foot 

 or fulcrum (fig. 14) ; the posterior pillar, projecting as 

 the heel, extends from the summit to the point at which 

 the muscular power is applied. A foot with a short 

 anterior pillar and a long posterior pillar or heel is one 



u/er 



Posterior 

 pillar 



Fulcrum Heel 



Fig. 14. — The bones forming the arch of the foot, seen from the inner side. 



designed for power, not speed. It is one which will 

 serve a hill-climber well or a heavy, corpulent man. The 

 opposite kind, one with a short heel and a long pillar in 

 front, is well adapted for running and sprinting — for 

 speed. Now, we do find among the various races of 

 mankind that some have been given long heels, such 

 as the dark-skinned natives of Africa and of Australia, 

 while other races have been given relatively short, stumpy 

 heels, of which sort the natives of Europe and of China 

 may be cited as examples. With long heels less powerful 

 muscular engines are required, and hence in dark races 

 the calf of the leg is but ill developed, because the 

 muscles which move the heel are small. We must admit, 



