XX 



FEET 



349 



middle-aged person, will recover its power and freedom of 

 motion to a considerable extent. 



Only one thing is needed to aggravate the evil effect of a 

 pointed toe, and that is the absurdly high and narrow heel so 

 often seen now on ladies' boots, which throws the whole foot, 

 and in fact the whole body, into an unnatural position in 

 walking, produces diseases well known to all surgeons in large 

 practice, and makes the nearest approach yet effected by any 

 European nation to the Chinese 

 custom, which we generally speak 

 of with surprise and reprobation. 

 And yet this fashion appears just 

 now on the increase among people 

 who boast of the highest civilisa- 

 tion to which the world has yet 

 attained. 



The practice of turning out the 

 toes, so much insisted on by 

 dancing masters, when it becomes 

 habitual, is a deformity. Although 

 in standing in an easy position the 



whole limb may be rotated Out- copied from a recent advertise- 



wards from the hip, so as to give ment - The nearest European 



T , . f ' , . I-, representative of the Chinese 



a broader basis of support, in walk- J omity depicted in Fig ^ 

 ing or running the hip, knee, p. 342. 

 ankle, and joints (of the foot are 



simple hinges, and it is essential for the proper co-ordination 

 of their actions that they should all work in the same plane, 

 which can only be the case when the toes are pointed 

 directly forward, and the feet nearly parallel to one another. 

 Any deviation from this position must interfere with the 

 true action of the foot when raising and propelling the body, 

 as explained at p. 346. Turning out the toes is, moreover, 

 a common cause of weak ankles, as it throws the weight 

 of the body chiefly on the inside, instead of distributing it 

 equally over all parts of the joint. 



I must speak lastly of one of the most remarkable of all 

 the artificial deformities produced by adherence to a conven- 

 tional standard, in defiance of the dictates of nature and reason. 



FIG. 31. Modern Parisian shoe, 



