Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-08
THE WILTSHIRE
Virginia ave. and Beach. Open all year.
SPECIAL WINTER RATES.
SAY SMALL TOE Is DOOMED.
View Of Chiropodists is That It Must
Disappear From Human Foot.

From the Chicago rd-Herald-
Now 1t is asserted that the small toe OF
the human foot will be crowded out Of
existence by the end of the present cen
fury. Such is the view Of chiropodists
generally and Of physicians who have given
the matter more than passing considera-
ton.
Just as according to Darwin, the tail
was crowded out of the human bony skel-
eton many ages back because it had abb
solutely no useful function to perform;
just as the veruiform appendix, the only
apparent function Of which is to neces-
state dangerous and expensive operations,
Will eventually find no place in human an
atomy So according to present indications,
the little toe must ultimately disappear al
together. .
The conditions prevailing at the present
day are such, indeed, that but a short
period of evolution will be necessary to
bring about this radical change In the hui
man system. The little toe is at its best in
childhood but even then it is seldom much
more than an apology for toe, while 1t Is
q fact we'll known to physicians that after
a certain age has been reached In ninety
cases out of a hundred the two end joints
of the toe become anchylosed-that Is to
say, united as to make separate move
ment impossible.
Nor are these conditions brought about
entirely even mainly through modern
methods of footwear, but are more direct
ly the result of the civilized method of To-
comotion.
Whether or not the big toe Is all that is
needed in walking and running is question
which has not yet been satisfactorily an
swered. but the fact remains that athletic
Instructors and coaches have universally
striven to develop the big toe at the ex-
pense of the others in the training Of fast
runners and foot ball players, and to that
end the shoes have been made SO narrow
that any possibility OF using the little toe
has been precluded.
The modern method Of walking, however
Is really responsible for the non-use Of the
little toe. The full weight OF the body is
on the right big toe. If by chance the rest
of the foot is allowed to participate in the
support OF the body, the little toe receives
less Of it than any Of the others. Ninety
per cent OF the shoes are worn out consid-
erably more on the big toe side than ON the
little toe side
Between the modern method Of walking
and the wearing Of tight-fltting shoes the
little toe is doomed to an early end. The
disappearance will, OF course, be gradual.
AS the use Of the foot is more and more
confined to the big toe, the little toe will
slowly but surely diminish In size with each
successive generation.
According to a physician who has given
the matter some study, the process of cvo-
luton will be something like this: The
ancfy losed joints Of the little toe, now so
common among grown-up people, will begin
to appear in the newly born babe. From
the anchylosed member to the web toe will
be short step. Cases will begin to appear
OF the little toe and its fellow united by
membranous tissue or cartilage, the little
toe becoming smaller in each successive
generation. until 1t loses all semblance Of a
toe and consists of stump merely
1t is estimated that by the beginning OF
the twenty-first century, unless some very
radical change is made in footwear and In
koCOmOtiOn ei2tnt-tOad r
will be the rule. the ten-toed ones the ex-
| ception.