242 



♦ KNOV\^LEDGE 



[Sept. 18, 1885. 



science chairs sliall Lr -r. .I'.y I: ■ :v ;-. .1, ,- , i: ,.; :. >1,l-i-.s 

 sliouldnot be tvIioUv .'i :!. ; ; : . ! ! - .' .:. ii.n. 



Germany subdivides ; Mi' .-I i i, - : ■ :..,■ ;,,,;.::-. and 

 gives to tbe iwofessoi-s .-|.,,-i,l 1 ili r,.' ;: . r : ' : ,:..-.s 

 it a condition for the liiglier lioiioui-> i I 

 tlie candidates shall give proof of tli' i , i , , , > 

 original researches. Under sucha.sy,-- , : , ^ ; i 



investigation are not incompatible. In tin. l , i IlUll L> fi il 

 the Science Commission many opinions were given that 

 scientific men engaged in research should not be burdened 

 with the duties of education, and there is much to be said 

 in support of this view when a single professor for the 

 whole range of a physical science is its only representa- 

 tive in a university. But I hope that such a system will 

 not long continue, for if it does we must occupy a very 

 inferior position as a natiim iu the intellectual competition 

 of Europe. Kesearch ;mJ fducuti'Hi in limited branches of 

 higher knowledge are nut incMniiiulible. It is true that 

 Galileo complained of the buivlen imposed upon him by 

 his numerous astronomical pupils, though few other philo- 

 sophers have echoed this complaint. Newton, who pro- 

 duced order in worlds, and Dalton, who brought atoms 

 under the reign of order and number, rejoiced in their 

 pupils. Lalande spread astronomers as Liebig spread 

 chemists and Johannes Miiller biologists, all over the 

 world. Laplace, La Grange, Dulong, Gay Lussac, Ber- 

 thollet, and Dumas were professors as well as discoverers 

 in France. In England our discoverers have generally 

 been teachers; in fact, I recollect only three notable 

 examples of men who were not — Boyle, Cavendish, and 

 Joule. It was so in ancient as well as in modern times, 

 for Plato and Aristotle taught and philosophised. If you 

 do not make the investigator a schoolmaster, as Dalton 

 was, and as practically our professors are at the present 

 time, with the duty of teaching all branches of their 

 sciences, the mere elementary truths, as well as the 

 highest generalisations, being compressed into a course, 

 it is well that they should bo brought into contact with 

 the world in which they live, so as to know its wants 

 and aspirations. They could then quicken the pregnant 

 minds around them, and extend to others their own 

 power and love of research. Goethe had a fine percep- 

 tion of this when he wrote — 



Wer in der Weltgeschichte lebt, 



Yv'er in die Z3iten schaut, und strebt, 



Xur der ist werth, zu sprechen und zu dicUtan. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF CLOTHING. 



Br "W. Mattieu "Williams. 

 XVn.— SHOES AND EUXNING. 



I HAVE to congratulate the Editor on his escape from 

 a volley of correspondence controverting my last 

 paper. It may be that those who would otherwise have 

 lii-ed at it ai'e at this season belter employed — are practi- 

 cally protesting by making pedestrian excursions iu the 

 exceptionally thick-soled boots which all occasional pe- 

 destrians find so advantageous. My own experience 

 agrees with theirs. I have found that, towards the end 

 of a walk of ten or twelve hours' duration with thin 

 shoes, the soles of my feet have ached miserably, and 

 that this peculiar aching was not suffered if thick-soled, 

 hob-nailed boots were worn. Sportsmen (I mean those 

 who hunt wild bii-ds or beasts in wild regions, not 

 poultry-yard battue-butchers) record similar experience. 



How, then, are these facts to be reconciled with the 

 principles expounded in my last? I admit the difficulty. 



but do not give it up as a hopeless paradox. Other facts, 

 other experiences supply explanatory data. In the course 

 of my wanderings I have met many tramps and others 

 who live afui.t. The denuiud for thick-soled boots does 

 II. i |i . :,! 11 . ir ;a I ill ::■ r .M.-. Some of the tramps were 

 1. . II 111 necessity, but not all, as I 



Il . ," , , I, _, . 1 I : walking barefooted or in thin 



bin I.,, :a 1 r ii ly Hi- a ..•laU puir of boots on their backs. 

 This e.-,peeiully in Germany and Switzerland. 



I observed an instructive difEerence in the foot-gear in 

 different parts of Norway. Usually the roads are excel- 

 lent, and the poorest peasrinf " Irfr-i"; his carriage." Thick 

 boots are common will.;. ■';■•; ■ i>e; but there are ex- 

 ceptional regions that a i i ., . .1. ere even a carriole 

 cannot travel. The Jituana;:., la J ustedal, and some 

 parts of Tellemarken are examj>les of this. The owners 

 of these mountains, valleys and glaciers are lithe and 

 much-enduring habitual pedestrians. They rarely go 

 barefooted, and then for climbing rather than walking ; 

 but they wear shoes made as light as economy permits. 



A very useful form of home-made shoe is worn in the 

 Justedal. It is shaped like those of our "Oxonian" 

 pattern that lace in front, but the lace extends all round, 

 under the ankle and above the heel, being threaded along 

 the upper part of the shoe close to its edge by running it 

 through holes so that it passes alternately inside and out- 

 side. The leather being soft and pliable the shoe is thus 

 drawn like the mouth of a bag close round, leaving no 

 space for the entry of pebbles, Jcc. Though lightly made, 

 these shoes hold very firmly to the feet. 



Putting these facts together, we may infer that the 

 demand for thick-soled boots by occasional pedestrians is 

 due to an abnormal tenderness or weakness of the foot 

 induced by habitual sedentary life and swaddling of the 

 feet. My own sensations indicate that this particular 

 weakness resides in the ligaments that hold the bones of 

 the tarsus together, and that it is analogous to the weak- 

 ness of ankle which creates a demand for the support of 

 laced-up boots. I have felt it the most acutely on the 

 first few days of a pedestrian excursion, verj' little to- 

 wards the end of a long one, and have found that the 

 best remedy is to bare the feet and hold them as long as 

 possible in cold water. It is well known that this is the 

 best remedy for a sprain or strain of the ligaments of the 

 ankle, and I may add, by way of advice to all who are 

 troubled with weak ankles, that instead of making them 

 weaker by the artificial support of laced boots, they may, 

 with patience and care, strengthen them considerably by 

 habitually wearing shoes rather than boots, and as 

 frequently as possible bathing the ankles with cold 

 water. The reaction after the cold water brings a 

 supply of blood to the part, and evidently nourishes 

 the ligaments, especially the surrounding strap that 

 binds and holds in their place the tendons descending 

 from the leg muscles. 



I may here mention a small invention of my own, 

 which is useful. Instead of using ordinary shoe-strings 

 to ordinai-y shoes, I lace a piece of rather strong 

 " elastic " (the india-rubber braid sold by drapers under 

 this name) through the holes, and knot it. The shoe 

 may then be slipped on or off without any tying or 

 vmtying. 



Another successful experiment which I have tried as 

 a pedestrian, is that of having shoes made reversible, 

 both alike, so that if any local chafing occurs to make 

 any part of either foot at all sore, the shoes may be 

 reversed. This usually affords immediate relief. Besides 

 this, all one-sided wearing by treading over is prevented 

 by reversing daily. 



