262 First and Second Toes in Man 



the S type. The importance uf these measurciiieiits is, that the L type is 

 not, at any rate in these cases, due to the extra length of the soft tissue, 

 and the 8 type of foot has the second toe longest, in spite of the excess 

 of soft tissue at the end of the great toe. These observations by no 

 means aid in explaining why so large a proportion of skeletal feet are of 

 the S type — except that they suggest that the discrepancy is due to 

 careless preparation of the feet. Volker met the same difficulty in that 

 his measurements of the skeletal elements contradicted "les resultats de 

 plusieurs mensurations prises sur les vivants. ...Je dois avouer que dans 

 ce moment je n'ai pas de donn^es pour expliquer cette contradiction. 

 Peut-etre faut-il la chercher dans 1 epaisseur des tissus graisseux au bout 

 du gros orteil chez les vivants, ou peut-etre aussi dans ce fait que 

 beaucoup de mensurations ont ete' faites sans appuyer sur le deuxieme 

 orteil presque toujours plus plie, pour le redresser en toute sa longueur." 

 Unless, however, the toes tabulated are unusual, the explanation certainly 

 does not lie in the soft tissues. 



Table VI gives the measurements of the phalangeal bones, of the 

 metatarsal bones and of the complete column or digit, in 26 radiographs. 

 The measurements have been taken along the median axis of each bone 

 by means of a transparent glass cm. rule. The axes of the digits are 

 not naturally parallel to the main axis of the foot. When a digit was 

 displaced from its correct position, each bone was measured separately 

 in order to obtain the correct undistorted length. 



The most striking result is, that in all cases, except one, the first 

 phalanges are longer than the second, whether the foot be of the L or S 

 type. In this one instance, the female of the first family in Table VI, 

 the bony toes of the left foot are equal and on the right foot the second 

 toe is 01 cm. longer than the first. It is hence obvious that the factor 

 for toe-type does not lie in the toe alone. 



Lazarus gives a table with the lengths of the phalanges in 13 cases, 

 of which 11 show the first toe-bones longer, in one the skeletal toes are 

 equal, and in the thirteenth case the second phalanges were longer than 

 the first. He, however, makes no statement concerning the appearance 

 of the living foot. Volker, who also dealt only with the skeleton, made 

 extensive measurements, and he writes: "The first toe in all races is 

 longer than the second, except it appears among the Melanesians, among 

 whom the two toes are of equal length." 



Table VI shows further, that in every case the second metatarsal is 

 longer than the first. Lazarus also found this to be the condition in 15 

 cases, which varied in age from a foetus of 3^ months to an adult. 



