The Savannah morning news., 1902-08-31
Crossing the Knees.
From the Troy Times.

lOlil lllC Ivy
The Troy Times published recently
an interesting article on crossing ones
knees, considering the subject from an
artistic viewpoint, inasmuch as cross
ing the legs causes hollow thighs. 1t
may be of interest to look into the
matter from medical point and notice
some evil effects of the practice. Yet
it is with no desire to do away with
the comfort which good cigar and
crossed legs bring to many, but only
to guard against certain possible ills
directly traceable to that institution
of ease" as one man calls 1t.
The back of the knee, as well as the
front of the elbow and wrist, the groin
and the armpit, contains important
nerves and vessels which are not so
well protected against direct pressure
as similar structures in other parts of
the body. This space behind the knee,
bounded above by the hamstrings, or
tendons of the plexar muscles, and be-
low by the heads of the great calf
muscle, is called the popliteal space
and contains tso large nerves, the ex-
ternal and the internal popliteal
nerves, which are the divisions of the
great scrotic, together with the large
popliteal artery and its vein, which
carry the blood to and from the leg.
Besides there are numerous branches
supplying the joint, and also a number
of small Emphatic glands. These
structures are beneath the skin, en-
bedded in fat and connective tissue,
and the pulsation of the artery can Of
ten be felt, while of the nerves the ex-
ternal can be made out Just inside the
external hamstring.
Now, it is the pressure upon these
vessels and nerves, brought about by
improperly crossing the legs, that often
gives rise to serious trouble. Fortu-
nately most of us throw the crossing
leg so far over the leg crossed that the
thigh of the first rests well up on the
other, and popliteal space is left free
But very often the legs are crossed
in such way that the knee-pan of
one fits accurately irto the popliteal
space of the other, thus throwing the
weight of the leg upon the vessels and
nerves which it contains. The leg and
foot become numb or Ego to sleep"
as we say, and~the foot is seen to jerk
up and down with definite rhythm.
This means that the nerves are COM
pressed and the artery is CONSTRUCTED
If the jerking of the foot be watched,
one will see that it beats in time with
the pulse, which means that besides
the hydrostat'c pressure in the blood
vessels the heart is overcoming, to
certain degree, the weight of the leg,
and the walls of the compressed art
cry are strained. The vein, too, is con-
stricted and our feet feel big and swol-
len, ands the superficial veins on the
back OF the leg often stand out in black
lines.
That these symptoms are unfavorable
is beyond a doubt compressed
nerve, if long subjected to such condi-
tions, is bound to rebel. Sciatica, as
cending paralysis, chronic numbness
and cramps have often been traced d.
rectly to the pressure caused by cross
ing the legs. Many men "go lame in
one leg. or ''have a bad knee" and
it is found that they very often habit
ually cross their legs in definite way.
Construct an artery or a vein and the
penalty is sure and often swift. Throm-
bosis, or a blood clot in the vessel;
aneurism. or a morbid 'dilatation of the
vessel; improper venous return and
varicose veins. to say nothing of swoll-
en- feet and poorly nourished muscles.
are some of the graver ills.
Fortunately not all or necessarily any
of these affections are inevitably en-
tailed by crossing ones legs. How
ever, If the danger signals of numb
ness. swelling and Jerking Of the foot
appear, we may rest assured that IL
iong kept up we may and probably
will suffer from one or more Of these
troubles