362 THE ABTICULATIONS OK JOINTS. 



the metatarsal bones in front receives the weight of the body, as already explained, on the summit 

 of the talus in the line of the third toe. Hence it is that the medial malleolus appears to be 

 unduly prominent on the medial side of the ankle. The transverse arch buttresses the longitudinal 

 one, and therefore, whether the body weight fall to the lateral or the medial side of the longitudinal 

 arch, it is supported by a mechanism at once stable, flexible, and elastic, or resilient, and capable 

 of reducing to a minimum all jars that may be received by the -fore part of the foot. As the heel 

 is raised in the act of walking, the weight is gradually transferred from the lateral to the medial 

 side of the foot, until the foot finally leaves the ground with a propulsive movement, which 

 results from flexion of the phalanges of the great toe. In this connexion it is worthy of note 

 that the longitudinal line of greatest strength is on the medial side of the longitudinal arch, i.e. 

 in relation to the great toe. 



