LECTURE III 143 



limbs apparently for the same reason. 

 Such formation however cannot be con- 

 sidered as the result of necessity, for when 

 the mother suckles her young, whilst 

 standing, their limbs appear of a prepos- 

 terous length. When we fall forwards, we 

 fall as a quadruped stands, our outstretched 

 arms protecting the upper part of the body, 

 and our bended knees the lower. When 

 we stand on one leg, the weight of the 

 whole body, as well as of those loads which 

 it occasionally sustains, is transmitted by 

 the bones of the leg upon the arch of the 

 foot, which is very convex, and well 

 adapted for its support, from whence it is 

 transmitted to the heel behind, and to the 

 ends of the metatarsal bones which form 

 the first joints of the toes, so that it rests 

 upon the ground. Chiefly however the 

 weight is supported upon the ends of the 

 metatarsal bones belonging to the great 

 and little toe, which have a strong apparatus 

 of muscles to keep them steady and pre- 

 serve them in their relative situation to the 

 heel. Thus is our weight supported on an 

 arch and transmitted to the ground by a 



