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. OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

. AUSTIN 

-Honorable E. R. Kott; Prosldent 

to vhethsr o 

.oi this department 

as sells custom-built 

an ltapresslon taken 

th3 practice of 

; .The maker does not 

t and his business is strictlined apove. 

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._ -~~(Chiropodp’ means the diagnosis, medical 

‘ind surgical treatmant of ailments of the human 

foot: A chiropodist is ono practicing chiropody. 

Whoever professes to be a chiropodist, or praotices 

or assumes’the duties lnoident to chiropody, with- 

. out .flrst obtaining from the Stdte Board of 

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-’ &nombl% E. H. Bctt, Pmsldcnt, ti~ 2 

Chimpody t$onlners 8 llcanoe r.&hor';G~ the 

pnrotice OS ohlropody. shall bs lin%d not cxceadin;; asi% hundred dollars, or bs confined ..- 

in jail not to exceed 30 days.” - 

Both of thn provlslcns quoted abow IXW dmivsd 

et33 @KQter 159 at pfiZ% 357 of tha hcts of t?le 38ta Le~lSlotuna (1323) tind only minor changes WPQ nade In the codlfzcE%t1al0s 1925. : 

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~’ The statutory definitlaru of chiropody as sot cut 

above are aablguous. 'Dlagnoals, mdlcal and su3+&al trsattan&” is the rOngw~g% uaod. 20% this rccn that the dlamosle 

plus a treatmat, etthcr medical OF swgical, is required to 

constitute the praotka of chiropody, or i.8 ths @i.agno3ls alcae 

sufflolent? In ths absence of jxdiciel iato,qrefiat:ou of ths 

- statute w look to ths Act as a v3olc, esi&tis to dote.zztis 

the legiolative Intent and thereby resolve .tbs smbi&ty of -- 

the definition. A rticle 4570, R.C.S;, 1925, .as acended by 

ths Act8 OS 1933, tith Leglslaturs, @se 363, rscuires that 

an ap9llcent for a licsnso to pmatios chirop&y-“‘shall prs- - 

aont satlsfaotory ovide~ce of gxduation ~TCU 8 bona fide ’ 

rsputablo school of chiropody in the fcm of 8 diploea “hi& 

has conf~rrsd tha de&m% of Dootorc-r-Sur$cal Chiropody . . .* 

Article 4573 ~ke8 9,mvlsion for the revocction .of a chlronodist’s ficsiw~so and u!.ziq oth%er mouails specifies that cno nvho.. 

.~.glves swag or sslls drui;s or elcobol for ct%er than logitlmts 

purposes In his praotioe; or who 0eg be convicted of amputat- 

_ ing ths hman foot or toe c F of uaizq an anssthetic cthor than 

local”, may have h20 llcenae rsvoksd. 

It n%ems to ws that Srm it reading of tie abovs quote3 

&vislons that the Jie&slaturs otitsnplnted thst a chiropodist 

as re@ated by our statuteo is ens wlm e~ge:oe not ln the 

dlagnosls of ailmx2t+o of ths Soot alarm, butt in’the medical 

troatmmt a@ minor aurgarg of the foot aa trsll. Furth*mors, 

in repulrlng a tiiplom fTom a *born fide reputable school of 

ahlmpody” w thlii~ it was the intention of the Ito~lslaturo 

that n ~exz.13 chlro adlst 

engas in .ths pmc e fee 

should be oqu+ppod to praotico am.l 

Of chiropody ti aCc0I-dtx.W with general-. 

1~ acoe9ted stnndards a& in t?w accepted field of his call-. 

1~ &.ev of tho snbibuous OsfialtLons of ch+cqp&y 

and tho lmpllcat’loris gleanoci fxm a read- of the rc,-sula tory 

statutes on this subjact as e vholo, vo believe th9 qusstion 

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Ronorable E, H, Hott; President, Page 3 

under consideration should be ruled by the deolslon of State 

Board of Medical Examiners VS. Uchln, 156 Atl. 285, a IJew 

Jersey case ln which the defendant vas charged with practlclng chiropody without a license. In that aase the Legislature.had not, attempted to define chiropody vhlle In Texas 

our definition 10,ambiguous and indefinite. Relevant quotations from that case sre as follovs: 

*The faots, as they appear in’ the testimony, 

are that professional vomen investigators employed 

by .the State did, on several ocoaslons, venter the 

shoe store of the defendant, vho appears to be a 

reputable dealer of some twenty years stand- ln 

the city of #ev Brunswick, and complained of pains 

In the feet. The dealer suggested that they bathe 

their feet ln hot water. use soaD. balm. and Powders: 

he also had the vltness& remove- their shoes &d - 

stand on a. pedigraph (electrical &chine) to take Ia _ 

picture ~of their feet’. He finally sold them some 

nationally knovn proprietary preparations ln the 

original packages, havlng pr’ated thereon ‘a written 

statement as to their uses, and tlie price printed 

thereon.. Defendat else sbld a pair-of s&h sumorts. 

The dealer called their attention to the directions ., 

on the paokeges. He did not hold himself out as a 

‘doctor of chiropody, nor did he cut any corns or 

i : oaflusea, nor did he make any charges other than the 

-.:. prlnted price for the so-called remedies. (Underscotiing ours) 

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“L&we ati enaoted to be~read and obeyed by the 

peoti1.e at liirge, and vords in oommon use by the people 

should b?‘&i.ven the same meaning ln the law as they 

have among the people’ who are expeoted to read them. j 

Adais V: Lansdon, 18 Idaho, 483, 110 Pac. 280. 

.%hlle the removal of corns and calluses constitutes chiropody, according $0 its commonly accepted definition, I am not ready to hold that the 

other treatments alleged to have been sqgested by 

the. defendant come within its scope. State v. Armstrong,,3a.I*ho, 498, 225 Pac. 491, 33 A.L.R. a362 

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Zionorzablo Z. H. &tt, Wealdent, Rpgo .j+ 

ila theicforo concludo, linltlq th+b o~iniod to t3e 

facts stated $n tha outtet, ti-mt .thcy da not disclose a CXi81c . 

of the pxaotice or chlzqmdy mdcr mr !Wcaa atatutee. To 

hola othe-rulss, VoUld ,subject th? cu8tcz1 &me and boat asker 

. to the re@atltma horse u.?or cmsidomtlca cs ha mmt’mcoasorlly igw,* tho ph7slcal o!!23\moter2st~oa of tie foot irr orc!or 

to provide the doolred ccsrort end sugpmt in a Gme for his 

ouatcwr. It would lilroly aI~bm~o ths shoe tZfik3ESKi uh:, recccmmdad a certtln last or mah to cor?t?lbute to the foot 

oazfort di bla gstrcn. Ue bo~love t.@t such a bcldhg vould 

be roro4Qjn to tho Lntont or the Legislature. . . 

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very rawly youra 

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