The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-23
THE HUMAN SMALL TOE
IT IS SAID BY cHIRoPoDIsTs TO
 BE DOOMED
Must Disappear From the Human Foot - Like Darwin's Tail.
 Physician Describes Pro-
 cess of Evolution.

:, Now is is asserted that the small toe of tfe human foot will be crowded out of existence by the end of the present cen tury, says the Chicago Record Herald. Such is the view of chiropodists gener- ally and of physicians who have given the matter more than passing consideration. E Just as, according to Darwin, the tail was crowded out of the human bony skeleton many ages back because 1t had absolutely no useful function to perform; just as the yermiform appendix, the only apparent function of which is to necessi- tate dangerous and expensive operations, will eventually find no place in human anatomy, SO. according to present indi- cations, the little toe must ultimately dis appear altogether.
 The conditions prevailing at the pres- ent day are such. indeed. that but short period of evolution will be, necessary to bring about this radical change in the human system. The little toe is at Its best in childhood, but even then 1t Is seldom much more than an apology for . toe, while 1t is a fact well known to pf1y- sicians that after 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, so united as to make separate movement impossible.
 Nor are these conditions brought about entirely or even mainly through modern methods of footwear. but are more di- rectly the result of the civilized method of locomotion.
 Whether or not the big toe is all that Is needed in walking and running Is a question which has not vet been satisfac- torily answered. but the fact remains that athletic instructors and coaches have universally striven to develop fne DE roe at the expense of the others in the train ing of fast runners and football 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. how ever, Is really responsible for the non- use of the little toe. The full weight of the body Is thrown first on the left big toe and then on tn eright 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 considerably more on the big toe side than on the little toe side.
 Between the modern method of walking and the wearing of tight fitting 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 VIII slowly. but surely diminish in size with each successive generation.
 According to a physician who has given the matter some study the process Of evo- anachylosed 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 wes- toe will be a short step. Cases VIII oe- gin to appear of the little toe and its fel- low united by membranous smaller or cartilage, the little toe becoming smaller in each successive. generation, until It loses all semblance of toe and consists of "a stump merely
 It is estimated that by the beginning of the twenty-fist century. unless some very radical change Is made in footwear and in locomotion, the eight-toed man and woman will be the rufe,the ten-toed ones the exception.