IN HYGIENIC PHYSIOLOGY. 145 



15. What is the natural direction of the big toe ? 



The natural direction of the big toe is in a line with the 

 long axis of the foot, but the conventional boot, which insists 

 upon an even-sided symmetry, and often upon a narrow tip, 

 tends to crowd the extremity of this toe toward the middle line 

 of the sole. If well-developed feet are placed side by side and 

 heel to heel, the two great toes will be found to be parallel to 

 each other, and to touch each other almost to their very ends. 

 If the same feet, clad in the shoes of the period, are placed in 

 the same position, it will be found that, while the heels are in 

 contact, the tips of the two great toes will be considerably 

 separated. 



16. IVTiat is the difference between a sprain and a 

 fracture ? A dislocation ? 



In a sprain, the ligaments which bind the bones of a joint 

 are strained, twisted, or torn from their attachments ; in a 

 fracture, the bone itself is broken ; in a dislocation, the bone is 

 displaced from its socket. 



17. Does the general health of the system affect the 

 strength of the bones ? 



Certainly. Impoverished blood will not make healthy bone. 



46 1. IVliat class of lever is the foot ivhen ive lift a 

 iveiglit on the toes ? 



The third class. The ankle-joint is the fulcrum, the weight 

 is at the toes, and the power is in front of the ankle, where 

 the muscle which lifts the toes (the extensor digitorium) is at- 

 tached to the foot. 



2. Explain the movement of the body baclwvard and 

 forward, ^vhen resting upon the tfiigh-botie as a ful- 

 crum. 



The weight is at the center of gravity of the head and 

 trunk, high above the hip-joints, where the fulcrum is situated. 

 The flexor muscles of the thigh are the power, and act close to 

 the fulcrum. The weight is sometimes directly over the ful- 

 crum, and may be on any side of it. This seems to the author 



