646 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Camper, who wrote, in the seventeenth century, " On the Best Form 

 of Shoe," says that his treatise originated in a jest made with his pu- 

 pils, who " did not believe I should dare to make public a work on 

 such a subject," which indicates the small estimate that was put upon 

 the foot as an organ of the body. He begins by deploring the per- 

 versity which wholly neglects the human feet, while forcing the great- 

 est attention to the feet of " horses, mules, oxen, and other animals of 

 burden," and declares that from the earliest infancy the foot-coverings 

 worn serve but to deform them, and make walking painful, and some- 

 times impossible ; and he lays the blame on the ignorance of shoe- 

 makers. 



James Dowie, a practical and scientific Scotch shoemaker, in his 

 excellent little book, makes the same statements as the artist ; and the 

 great Dutch surgeon, whose treatise he had translated into the English 

 language, also laments that the subject of the feet is so neglected by 

 those who are competent to instruct us about them. Lord Palmer- 

 ston said to Dowie that " shoemakers should all be treated like pirates, 

 put to death without trial or mercy, as they had inflicted more suffer- 

 ing on mankind than any class he knew." 



One can not treat of the deform- 

 ities of the feet without considering 

 the nature of their covering, the boots 

 and shoes, for it is these which cramp, 

 distort, and disable them ; therefore 

 in this article, after a brief account 

 of the anatomy of the foot, our atten- 

 tion will be confined to its principal 

 distortions and the causes which pro- 

 duce them. 



The feet furnish a firm base for the 

 body in standing, and, undeformed, 

 make walking easy and healthful. 

 They sustain alternately the whole of 

 the body's weight, and, though com- 

 paratively small, are admirably fitted 

 to carry it without jar or discomfort, 

 if unhampered by their coverings. 

 They are in the highest degree elas- 

 tic, from the large number of bones, 

 with many articulations, with their 

 attachments, and the plentiful supply 

 of muscles, blood-vessels, and nerves to keep them vigorous and well- 

 nourished. This elasticity enables them to carry the body over smooth 

 and rough surfaces, not only without injury, but to its greater health. 

 In just so far as this elasticity and freedom of natural action are inter- 

 fered with, is their health, and with it that of the body, lowered. 



Fia. 1. 



