Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1894-08-17
FOOT DISTORTION IN CHINA.
Exact Description of the Process In Com
mon lJse,


Exact Description of the Process In Com,
mon Use.
In many provinces the small foot i:
almost as much novelty as it would
be in Ontario or New York, and in Tar
tar and Mongol districts, southern
Manchou excepted has never been toll.
Grated During the Ming dynasty, the
custom received blow from which it
has never fully recovered, and it was
then forbidden on pain of death. Ever
since the custom has been slowly on
the wane, and it is now forbidden with.
in the precincts of the emperor's court
1.-The Son of Heaven" as his imperial
majesty is termed, will have none of it,
and his harem is made up exclusively
of females possessed of normal feet.
Even in Kwangtung, where the custom
prevails, it is possible for one to re-
side for months without encountering
a small-footed female, unless especial
ly brought into contact Herewith, as
in the home of some medium-class
official. Conspicuous chiefly by it's
absence" in higher circles it is en-
phatically badge of the middle class;
though every high-rank mandarin
usually aims to possess one small
footed wife or concubine, on the same
principle, doubtless, that led ancient
conquerors to drag captives at their
chariot wheels.
The distortion is not, as commonly
surmised, commenced in infancy, but
reserved for the period embraced
between the sixth and tenth
years. Experience has taught the
fallacy of meddling with bones and
tissues until they have attained Ger,
tain degree of firmness and consist
ency; if soft, they are too readily yield
ing for Elasticity, and donot take kind.
ly to the bruising and squeezing that
accompany the act of molding.
The torture, and it is no less, is insti
tuted amid relatives and friends espe'
cially hidden for the occasion, and to
do honor to the feast that follows. In
order to render the flesh amenable tc
the squeezing process, the feet are first
submitted to the prolonged action OF
intensely hot water, and next plenti
fully busted with powdered alum tc
insure complete contraction of the mi
mute and superficial blood vessels
Then the bandage is applied with al
the combined force of two operators
one of whom is usually a professional
the child meantime being extended
upon the couch, and forcibly held by
attendants, who do not scruple to stifle
the evidences of her suffering with the
hand, unless, as sometimes, though
rarely, happens, the narcotic powers o.
opium have been invoked. The band
age employed is a stout, non-elastiC
band, especially woven for such pur
pose, some two or three and one-hal
yards long and two inches wide, and il
newly wrung out of boiling water a
the instant of application.
The four other Qesser) toes ar,
doubled under and confined to the sole
the intervening space being packed
with astringent powder (alum), wheI
the bandage is given turn to confn,
it about the point of the heel, and thel
returned over the top of the foot, ant
at the point of articulation of the toes
Powerful traction is now made, eX
preston, kneading, and other manua
aids being called into acquisition, ant
in way to crowd the bones of the an
terror portion of the foot backward an,
! forward upon those of the instep
which in turn are thus crowded dowI
to meet the heel that, by the same act
has been drawn downward and forwar,
to occupy position in the same plan
with, and perpendicular to, the bone
of the leg. Finally, the whole is tight
ly wound laterally as high as the calf
every effort being made to limit me
ton and blood supply.
Every four or five days during tn
first month-after that once in as man
weeks the bandages are loosened, eac
removal bringing away considerabl
quantities of eXfoliated cuticle ant
! dead tissue, whereby more or less ST
: perfcial bleeding is provoked So, toe
there is some liberation, and not infre
| VI
The hot-water bath affords cursor
. cleaning, more alum is applied an
: packed in the creases and raw SUI
faces, when the bandages are replace
] with greater severity and rigor 1t
only when the deformity assumes
semi-ovoid, or rather hemi-conoid form
J of which the great toe is the apex, tina
= the operation is deemed at all sati
! factory
rom two to five years are require
bring the deformity to the acme {
estial perfection. During this perio
little one is positively never for a
can't free from excruciating suffe
and the anguish which condemn
to spend alike her sleeping and he
ling hours in a recumbcnt position
legs dangling over the hard edg
he couch-that circulation may
sded sufficiently to benumb til
s-may better be imagined tina
ribed. Never by any accident al
feet permitted to touch the groun,
by disuse and lapse of time, tt
cles from the knee down becom
~ and incapable of responding
Efforts of the will.-Dr. q. A. Stool
in Canadian Magazine.