The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1895-01-26
SCIENTIFIC MATTERS.
INFORMATION ABOUT SCIENTIFIC
AND INDUSTRIAL TOPICS.
Educating Human Feet-New Inven-
observation-disclosures Glass-Elec-
tricity I'm Mining Power-New Sig
mails for Cruisers. ~ .

ailments of the human foot, says he
has found the Turkish bathroom a most
favorable place for making his obser-
vations. He believes that II people
could 60 through life with the feet as
they are at birth, that is to say, with
no change or development of fresh
powers in the feet or spine arising
from the assumption of the erect pos
ture, the feet would require nc educa-
ton for fresh duties. But man, in
the natural order of evolution, has
learned to walk and the foot has to
meet the strain imposed upon it. 1t
is in the fulfllment Of this task that
the foot becomes in many s NAL
formed and ineffective, DR.. Smith no
ticed that a boy was seldom seen at
the baths who had fiat feet, or who
failed to place the weight on the feet
properly, unless in the case of boys Of
very weak muscular powers and rapid
overgrowth, and this and other facts
convinced him that as a rule it is III
adult life that the utility of the feet
becomes impaired by faulty habits and
neglect Of proper exercise. In OBJ
serving the walking of ~bare-footed men.
the skilled a can learn much by the
sound of the footsteps. The perfected
resilient and silent football is very rare.
It Is a singular fact that the actnar
weight Of the man has little to do
with this point. Some of the most
elastic and noiseless footballs are OBJ.
served In men Of great stature and
muscular development, and it is we'll
known that the stoutest men often
make the lightest dancers. DR.. Smitl,
quotes an instance OF a man over 8
feet in height, 40 years Of age and
1856 pounds in. weight who makes far
less noise in running up stairs and NOV
ing about the house than \. ;:mall maid
servant. The main cause of this in
elastic tread is that people get into
the habit Of exc,,sing the muscular
system from carrying the increasing
bulk of their bodies, and seek to shift
1t almost entirely upon the bones and
joints of the legs. The posture adopted
by the majority of town dwellers, of
faithfully standing on the heels, and
resting but lightly upon the front part
Of the foot, takes away from the mus
cles of the calf tn air proper share of
the work, puts the arch of the foot into
a state Of inactivity, restricts the na-
tural spreading out of the toes and
front portion of the foot, and causes
undue Earring of the body in walking
upon hard pavements. The well train
ed runner presents a distinct contrast
to all this. His light and elastic step
shows that he maintains the erect pos
ture by an eve distribution of his
weight ove all the muscles Of his legs,
which spring and neutralize all jar to
the body as he walks. His heels are
pressed to the ground very lightly,
save at the instant the foot is ad.
vanced in walking, ami even then the
weight is instantly transferred to the
toes and. front of the foot. The usual
effect of the perversion of the d1ties of
certain muscles in walking is to encour-
age more or less fiatfootedness: in
other cases 1t produces a curled-down
form of toes, which do not spread and
grasp the ground; and when the weak
ened foot takes to aching, the toes are
turned out a little to spare the muscles
still further-especially in later life
the knees are kept slightly bent, and
the inner edges Of the feet are too
much on the ground. Faulty shoes
have to bear much of the blame for
weakened feet. A cramped, vise-like
shoe is a disgrace to civilization, and
shoes with inflexible waists (the part
OF the sole between the heel and the
ball Of the FOOT have a most per-
nicious influence, as they are apparent
~ designed to prevent the free play and
exercise of the instep. The civilized
maj ought to learn to give his foot the
same freedom and instantaneous fex-
lon as the Indian, and according to DR..
Smiths way of thinking, Ii moccasins
We're to come into fashion, the coming
generation would know little OF many
of the foot and spinal troubles which
are now SO common. " -.
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