The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-02-23
Medical Notes.

can hardly imagine that there exists
man, woman or child who has not
SEEN or at least has not an idea, of a
shoemaker's last and how it looks, and
judging from the number of corn doc
tors and OrthOpedic doctors 1t would
seem as if every one believed that the
human foot was much like the wooden
last only a little more yielding. But In
fact the foot is much more than this;
it is an exceedingly complicated yet in
genious combination or Joints that rem
der it flexible and yielding, with the pur-
pose of rendering walking possible and
easy, yet this very element of yielding
is often the cause of 1ameneSS and tor
ture, because man takes an unfair adj
vantage of it and SqueeZeS his feet into
shoes several sizes too small for them.
shoes that are built on artificial lines
Of beauty without regard to the symmet-
ricaI and natural lines of the foot or
its mechanism
There are 26 bones in the foot that ma
turally work together In such unison
that there is no friction nor inlperfection
hut most men and women would say
there were several hundred bones In the
feet and each bone was on strike. We
speak of the arch of the foot ordinarily
with but little understanding of the term
because it suggests a structural arch,
firm and unyielding. In so far as the
arch of the foot serves to support the
weight of the body this comparison IS
appropriate, but there it ceases, for the
arch of the foot is a yielding structure
having a keystone which is movable to
a limited degree. THIS bone is called the
astragalus. Above the leg bones bear up
on this arch. in the rear 1t is seated
against the hael bone; in front there IS
an elastic ligament between 1t and the
toes that acts as sort of buffer or
spring so that when the weight of the
body is brought to bear on this key bone
the astragalus slides forward slightly
hut has the shock taken up by the buf
fer just as one car meets the shock Of
another in coupling through the buffer.
Hence the foot elongates half an inch
it and a shoe that is snugly long enough
when the foot is at rest is too short
when we stand up.
There is another arch that is not COM
monty recognized as such; it is a. trans
verse arch with its base higher on the
inside of the foot than on the outer.
This too is a flexible arch and the foot
broadens when any weight is placed on
the arch so that shoe that is narrow
binds the foot if it does not allow eX-
panSion of the foot.
Unlike a structural arch which has
firm basis of support the arches of the
foot have a shifting base but the various
parts of the structure are so tied to-
gether by ligaments that the arch cannot
open beyond a limited degree. Nor can
these igaments endure constant
strain; they need periods of rest and
hence standing upon the feet Is more
tiresome than walking because in walk
ing the springs of the foot have an OPP
pOrtunity to relax at every step. More
over it is a peculiar fact in physiology
and pathology that constant pressure up-
on a part or organ in many cases induces
an atrophy. that is a slrinkage. Constant
pressure from long standing actually
weakens the elastic 1igaments and rem
ders their power to resume their normal
size and form less vigorous so that con-
tinual standing causes big feet and ten
der or aching feet from the strain.
In the reaction against high heels
which put the foot on an inclined plane
10 that the toes are driven forward into