The human foot and the human hand

by George Murray Humphry

[50].

The line of the great toe is thus quite altered, and the other toes are tightly wedged together (figs. 49 and 50); or, not being able to find room side by side, they overlap one another and form unsightly projections beneath the upper leather of the shoe. No wonder that “corns” and “bunions” and “in-growing toe-nails” are the frequent result of this treatment, and that so many persons are compelled to walk in a cautious, feeling manner, and to watch the ground narrowly, lest their cramped and tender toes come into contact with a stone or other projecting body.

How greatly to be lamented it is that the foot should be thus maltreated and distorted, and that walking should be made so painful, and that the shoe, which is intended to befriend and protect the foot, and which, if well fitted, would support it and preserve its shape, and make some amends to it for the rough hard roads upon which it is compelled to tread, should be thus perverted into a means of galling it and impairing its functions.

This subject has been treated of in a simple and concise manner by Dr Meyer, Professor of Anatomy at Zurich, in a small pamphlet, which has been translated into English by Mr Craig, and entitled, “Why the Shoe pinches‍[6].” I hope it may be read by boot-makers, and may lead to some improvement in their art. Dr Meyer very properly remarks that one of the main points to be attended to is, to allow the great toe to have its normal position; and this can be done by making the inner edge of the sole incline inwards, from the balls of the toes, instead of outwards. The accompanying drawing (fig. 51) gives the outline of a shoe designed under his superintendence, and shows the difference between it and the usual shape, the latter being indicated by the dotted outline. In fig. 52 the shoe is pointed, the pointing being effected from the outer side. I have often laboured, but laboured in vain, to impress the same point, and hope the more systematic attempt of Professor Meyer may lead to better results.

Fig. [51].

Fig. [52].

With regard to the heel-piece, I have already said that it should not be high because it makes the step less steady and secure, and at the same time shortens it, and impairs the action of the calf-muscle. A high heel-piece, moreover, renders the position of the foot upon the ground oblique, placing the fore part at a lower level than the heel; thus the weight is thrown too much in the direction of the toes, and they are driven forwards and cramped against the upper leather of the shoe. The high-heel of a boot, therefore, tends to aggravate the evils which are caused by the insufficient and ill-adjusted space which is allowed to the toes.

This account of the foot has necessarily been very superficial and imperfect. There are many points in its anatomy to which I have not even alluded; but, if I have succeeded in giving you some idea of the general plan of its construction, and in stimulating you to further enquiry respecting the mechanism of the Human Frame, my purpose will have been served. Still more will it have been so, if you carry away with you some sense both of the Pride and of the Humility which the review of such a structure is calculated to excite—of pride, not selfish pride, but pride resulting from a consciousness of the nobility of your physical nature, a pride which will make you spurn what is bad and degrading, and will help you to aspire to what is elevated and good. The impressions resulting from a comparison of this one fragment of Nature’s work with our own most laboured achievements must quell any other pride; and the very admiration with which we contemplate the structure of our body impels us to walk humbly with our God, whose gift that body is.