The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1891-12-24
USEFUL MEMBERS.
Tho Toes Nay Bo Trained to Serve
as Fingers.
varion' Tur:'oses to Which They Arc
SOMETIMES hp?licd-sorneti,ins About
.iie Foot of the DiEercnt
Nations.


and toes could be put If necessity arose
for full development of their powers
There is q way of educating the foot. as
well as the hand or the eye, and there is
no telling what an educated foot can be
made to do In the time of Alexander
says tho st Louis Globe. Democrat, the
great warriors were taught TO draw
their bows with their feet. as well as
their hands. and this is done at the
present time by the Rock Neddahs, OF
Ceylon.
Nearly all aborigincs can turn their
toes not only to good but to bad ac.
counts This is especially true of the
natives of Australia, who. while they
are cunringly divcrting your attention
with their hands, are busily engaged
committing robberies with their toes,
with which they pick up small articles
as an elephant would with his trunk
So. also, the Iiindoo makes his toes
work at the loom. using them in his
weaving operations with almost as
much dextcrity as he does his fingers
The Chinese carpenter when he is
planning piece of wood always holds it
with his feet. lie also turns a grind.
stone and docs many other kinds OF
work in the same manner
The Banalia tribe, the most famous
canoemcn on The West African coast,
will impel their light canoes with great
velocity over the waves. and at the
same time use the feet to bail out the
water that happens to be lashed over
the sides of the light craft. If from
any cause q Banalla breaks or loses his
oars he tIrows his legs over the sides of
the boat and propels it almost as fast
with his feet US he could with the pad
dies.
M. Ducornet, who died in France in
1869, WAS born without arms or hands
He had the eye of an artist, and not
withstanding his great misfortune actu-
ally studied painting and exhibited
many fine productions wholly executed
with his toes.
The feet of Thomas Roberts. the arm.
less huntsman. once in the employ of
Sir George Barlow. were made TO serve
in the place of hands. Roberts manu-
factured most of the Instruments which
he used while on the chase and could
shoot or throw with as much precision
as the average hunter in possession of
both arms and hands
The same may be said of William
kinstone, an Englishman who kept his
own accounts, shaved and dressed him
self, saddled and britlled his horse,
threw sledge hammers and did other
seemingly impossible things with his
toes.
AS to national characteristics in feet.
1t may be said that the French foot is
narrow and long; the Spanish foot is
small and elegantly curved-thanks to
its Moorish blood-corresponding to the
Castilian's pride Of being high in the
instep."
The Arabs foot is proverbial for its
high arch. The Koran says that a
stream of water can run under the true
Arabs foot without touching it. The
foot of the Scotch is high and thick;
that of the Irish fat and square; the
English short and fleshy
When Athens was in her zenith the
Greek foot was the most perfectly
formed and exactly proportioned of that
of any of the human race. Swedes,
Norwegians and Germans have the
largest feet; Americans the smallest.
Russian toes are "webbed" to the first
joint; Tartarian toes are all the same
length.