The subject has already received some little attention. Some time about the beginning of the present century Dr. Peter Camper, of Amsterdam—a distinguished man of his time—wrote a short dissertation upon the “Best Form of Shoe,” which was eventually translated and published in England in 1861, in connection with a larger work by Mr. James Dowie. Dr. Camper’s essay was excellent as a first effort in this direction, furnishing some ideas upon the form of the foot and the defect of its covering, which still remain hardly less just and appropriate. Mr. Dowie added some good suggestions, and faithfully exposed the faults of the foot-gear worn by the British army and the humbler classes; but a considerable portion of his book was taken up in the explanation and advocacy of elasticated leather—an article of his own invention—while the whole was written in a style too difficult to be generally read.
Another work published in England was the “Book of the Feet,” by J. Sparkes Hall, issued a few years previous to that of Mr. Dowie. Though very interesting as a concise history of the shoemaking art, it touched but slightly upon those abuses of the feet with which shoemaking is connected.
But a late essay directly upon the subject, by Prof. Hermann Meyer, of Zurich, Switzerland, has a value superior in this respect to that of all the preceding ones.
The present writer has intended to include all the important ideas of previous writers on the subject, together with such information as could be gathered from medical and other works, but going farther and adding such original notions as the observation and thought of his own mind could supply, with the purpose of making the whole as thorough and complete as possible, both from the point of view of the physiologist and that of the practical shoemaker.
The book is not written in the dignified style of a professor, nor with literary correctness; but it is hoped the ideas contained, and the nature of the subject-matter, will make it readable. It is addressed to those who desire comfort for their feet, and no less to those who wish to see them handsome in form and tastefully dressed.
As first prepared, the matter, under a different title, was printed in a trade journal—the Shoe and Leather Reporter—in 1868, since which a careful revision has improved and adapted it for its present form.
CONTENTS.
| CHAPTER I. | |
| PAGE | |
| Introductory | [1] |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| Natural Position of the Toes—Anatomical Argument—Correspondence of Foot and Hand—Necessity of Freedom for the Toes—Criticism on Forms of Sole | [6] |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| Distortion of the Toes and Joint—Various Causes—Want of Harmony between Shape of Foot and Shape of Shoe—Grown-in-Nails—Influence of Stockings, Narrow-Toed Soles, High Heels, and Changing of Shoes—Faults of Lasts | [17] |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| Prevention of Deformed Toes and Joint—New Forms of Sole—Eureka Last—True Standard of Taste—How Distorted Great Toe may be Straightened—Ancient and Medieval Foot-apparel—Suggestions | [36] |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| Flattened Condition, of the Arch—Beauty of One that is Natural—Nature and Purpose of its Construction—How it becomes Broken Down—Lengthening of the Foot—Lack of Development—Means of Improvement—Lasts for Flat Feet—Transverse Arch | [61] |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| Natural Character of the Instep—Causes, and Prevention, of Sores upon it—False Taste—Callosities of the Heel—Counters—Criticism of Lasts | [87] |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| Inclinations of the Feet—How to Make them tread Squarely—Peculiar Lasts—Weak Ankles—Cultivation of Muscle—Turning-in of the Toes | [100] |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| Corns, Bunions, and Callosities—How they Originate—Nature of the Skin—Various Causes of Corns—How to Remove them—Quotations from the Medical Books—Nature and Treatment of Bunions | [110] |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| Recapitulation—Lasts for Individual Feet—Possibility of all Feet being Well Fitted in their Clothing—Ease and Grace of Movement—A Last Word for Children | [128] |
| CHAPTER X. | |
| Miscellaneous—Criticism of Different Forms and Fashions—Elasticity—Sensitiveness—Rubbers and Water-proof Leather—Cure for Sweating—Qualities of a Good Covering | [139] |
DRESS AND CARE OF THE FEET.