344 



FASHION IN DEFORMITY 



xx 



Now, the cause of this will be perfectly obvious to any one 

 who compares the form of the natural foot with the last upon 

 which the shoemaker makes the covering for that foot. This, 

 in the words of the late Mr. Dowie, " is shaped in front like a 

 wedge, the thick part or instep rising in a ridge from the 

 centre or middle toe, instead of the great toe, as in the foot, 

 slanting off to both sides from the middle, terminating at each 

 side and in front like a wedge ; that for the inside or great 

 toe being similar to that for the outside or little toe, as if the 



ABC 



FIG. 29. A. Natural form of the sole of the foot, the great toe parallel to 

 the axis of the whole foot. B. The same, with outline of ordinary fashionable 

 boot. C. The modification of the form of the foot, necessarily produced by 

 wearing such a boot. 



human foot had the great toe in the middle and a little toe at 

 each side, like the foot of a goose ! " The great error in all 

 boots and shoes made upon the system now in vogue in 

 all parts of the civilised world lies in this method of con- 

 struction upon a principle of bilateral symmetry. A straight 

 line drawn along the sole from the middle of the toe to the heel 

 will divide a fashionable boot into two equal and similar parts, 

 a small allowance being made at the middle part, or " waist," 

 for the difference between right and left foot. Whether the 

 toe is made broad or narrow, it is always equally inclined at 

 the sides towards the middle line ; whereas in the foot there 



