such as were three times as thick at the toe as at 

 the heel. 



Is it not likely that common sense would re- 

 ject such practice as unnatural and absurd ? And 

 it may easily be imagined what would happen 

 to foot soldiers, thus shod, on a march, when 

 loaded with their accoutrements, or to an opera 

 dancer, whilst exhibiting his agility on the stage. 

 And certainly it is not straining the argument, 

 to compare in this point of view, the foot of a 

 horse with that of a man, as they both answer 

 the same end, and of course must both suffer, 

 more or less, from thus continually going up 

 hill. — Such being the disadvantages arising 

 from the use of the thin-heeled shoe, it may be 

 suspected, that it is a profitable one to manu- 

 facture. The reverse of this is, however, the 

 fact, provided the shoe be made according to the 

 pattern laid down; that is to say, that the 

 branches regularly swell from the heel, till they 

 meet at the toe, which should be three times as 

 thick as the heel. And this gradual swell is un- 

 questionably the only means by which the whole 

 surface of the thin-heeled shoe can be brought to 

 bear at once upon hard ground ; but it requires 

 more labour to make thi^ than any other kind 

 of shoe. And accordingly, workmen have hit 



