Introduction
The making of a man is a process of time, of training and of progress. The babe, indeed, may be born perfect in physical proportions and in possession of normal faculties; but no product of Nature may stand still. Growth or decay is the lot of every one, and the man—the full and perfect man—is the result of physical and mental development.
There has never been a time when physical development has received so much attention as at present, or when its importance has been so greatly appreciated. Physical culture and exercise in the open air have resulted in making men and women stronger and healthier, and consequently more graceful in carriage and figure and better fitted to enjoy the pleasures and perform the duties of life. The conviction is now general that to produce the highest type of man the cultivation and development of the physical structure should proceed with the cultivation of the mind; but on the other hand, the wise do not admit that the practice of devoting too much attention to athletics should be encouraged, however prevalent this practice may be said to be at many leading colleges. The proper ratio should be observed.
It is not desirable, to be sure, that the race should become one of ignorant giants, but nevertheless the value of exercise and of physical work cannot be disputed. The right to pursue this value should be shared by all mankind. Fortunately it has been made possible now, as it formerly was not, for those who have lost limbs to indulge in rightful exercise and perform necessary physical work notwithstanding their misfortunes. The activities of life, with their resulting benefit, are no longer denied them.
Surgery, the scientific making of mechanical devices for the correction of deformities, and the manufacture of artificial substitutes for lost limbs, have led in the advance of methods intended to better the condition or ameliorate the suffering of humanity.
Time was when the loss of a leg meant the stumping through the balance of life on a crotched stick. There was Peter Stuyvesant, for instance, whose portrait is shown on the cover of this catalogue. He lost a leg in the wars in the West Indies in 1640. Thereafter, during the time he was the last Dutch Director General of New Netherlands—from 1647 until his surrender to the English in 1664—and to his death in New York in 1682 at the ripe old age of eighty, he pegged his way along. He was a man well able to afford the best in life, but nothing better than the ordinary peg leg was then obtainable, and so for forty years or more Peter Stuyvesant suffered the inconvenience due to the crude device.
Now, fortunately for the afflicted, better things are possible. Science and art have combined so successfully in the manufacture of our artificial limbs that not only is the wearer free from discomfort but he is enabled to continue his career of activity, and pursue, as may be necessary, his labors for a livelihood. Besides, the perfection of design and manufacture of these aids makes their presence difficult of detection.
Not only is ordinary labor well performed, but many remarkable feats are accomplished by wearers of limbs of our manufacture. A few instances are cited below.
A noted pitcher of a baseball team and a remarkable bicycle rider, although deprived in early life of both legs by accident, is able to hold a position of prominence in his profession.
An operator constantly on his feet in a signal tower suffers no inconvenience. After making five experiments he has found finally that the artificial leg with which we have equipped him is the most comfortable he has ever worn.