The Somerset reporter., 1895-08-08
CARE OF THE FEET.
THE CRAMPED AND TORTURED FOOT
NO LONGER TIE IDEAL.

Views of a Celebrated Anal emi,t-The Inn
portance of Wearing the Right Kind of
shoes something About Corns and How
to Treat Them.
Very few seem II realize the Impor
tanco Of giving the feet proper attention
in order t. secure better health as we'll
a. general comfort Ii Is almost incon-
ccivahlc that in our civilized nation in
the modern age there are still 50 many
otherwise sensible women who are will
ing to MAIN and cripple their feet and
suffer fortunes for the sake IF wearing
shoes lust little too small, or which
are, as they imagine falsely. pretty or
more fashionable. We SEE the folly IF
the cramplng process upon the teet Of
the Chinese women, but he's much NOR
inexcu,ab,c it Is Tor womea Of this en-
lightcnod country.
III former times 1t has len the fash-
ion for shoes - be mac with Ugh
heels, narrow. pointed t8e7 ID all sorts
Of eXtravagant shapes cont ~ Il e.tse
and comfort, and as toe slanv people
have felt II incumbent u9un them to
bow ~ the demands of tha .vrant fash
ion, no matter how una enable her
demands. the result has IN fer sue
cepding generations unt5Ii differing III
the form If corus bnuiora and other
drformIties until neW Il Is comparative
~ rare o. see, except among savage ma
lions, a perfect, well shape foot. But
a more sensible fashion allows the wcal
ing Of various styles Of sensible shoes
that are adapted to the tase and corr
fort Of the wearer, with thick soles
wide, low heels and plenty Of room f)r
free expansion Of the toes and muscles
and the numerous corns. which are not
only exceedingly painful, put often seri-
Gus affairs, are gradually Disappear 2
from the feet of the sens IDLE 0nes and
the ideal foot Is no longtr the cramr ed
and tortured foot
Tho celebrated anator list, Professor
Hyrti Of Vienna univers ty, fpened one
of his lectures to his clas., with the 7in-
gular question, Which /, the most be 1u-
tiful foot, considered from the anatom-
ical standpoint:" and ten continued:
ct is remarkable that tn ere are SO many
divergent opinions ON this subject.
While the sons of mel look upon a
small, slender and gracefal foot, lady's
foot as an ideal one, thu anatomist ut
terly rejects it as beautiful, and only
the large, long and broad foot Is :he
ideal one in his eyes EY III the greatest
classic writer's Of antiqu y, Horace, Ca
tallus, and others, who he'd great appre-
citation Of the feminine beauty, never
mentioned in the descriptions of THEN
belOved-and, as Is vel known, they
had many-their small FIT.
The people belongAle % the Celtic
race have small feet; The uindoos es-
pecially have such feet and hands that
they may he enyied by many European
countes;es. The native troops Of the
English army in India possess in Eng
land their own armory where peculiar
kinds of weapons are constructed for
them, and the sword hits made for
them are much too small for u to grasI
with ease, The greatest beaut' p Of Eu
rope, the Italians have really long and
broad feet.
But even if we do not care tn be CON
WINGED that the ideal foot is the foot
that is long and broad we can ,ertainly
realize the Importance Of care ia select
ing Shoe, of the proper size f0 comfort
as we'll rs beauty The foot never looks
pretty in shoe too small for it, and
such shoes soon become unshapely from
undue pressure, giving anything but
pretty appearance.
On the other hand, we should hot fall
into the error Of buying shoes too large.
These are quite as apt to cause eorns as
small ones by rubbing certain parts of
the foot. If any one has the misfortune
to fall into this mistake, it can be RENE
died to a great extent by inserting a soft
wad Of cotton batting i'll the toe Of the
shoe or i'll the part that rubs against
the foot
The same care is necessary in buying
shoes as in buying gloves. They will
last much longer and have better APP
pearance when made of new, good skins.
Old leather or kid is not soft and elastic
and does not easily shape itself to the
foot or the hand. This is not only "A
matter Of comfort, but of economy. Ii
this, as in many other things, "the best
is the cheapest, " and as few women, or
men either, for that matter, are good
judges of leather it will be wise to buy
only Of honest, experienced dealers, IN
whom we can cOnfide, for we cannot
afford risks i'll a matter where so much
IL involved. An uncomfortable shoe is
really very seriouS mat ter when we
take into consideration the pain and
discomfort, the probable deformities i'll
the way of corus and bunions, the wear
on the nervous system and the unpleas-
ant consequences of our irritable tenn
pers because of personal discomfort
1t scarcely seems necessary to speak
Of the importance of frequent bathing
of the feet and pairing of the nails, and
yet many are surprisingly careless in
this respect. Corns are simply composed
of great number of layers Of cuticle,
or scarf skin, one above another, each
successive layer being larger than the
preceding, so that the whole assumes
the form of a grain of Indian corn
hence its name. This is constantly press
ing its point upon the tender flesh when
the shoe presses or rubs against it, and
as this cuticle is easily dissolved to
great extent by the warm water and
soap we can see that bathing Is the most
ready and harmless remedy as we'll as