Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1914-07-24
THE FOOT.

THE FOOT.
Recently there appeared In the col
umns of the daily press a special cable
notice of the presentation OF a paper
at the Academy Of Sciences, Paris.
France, by Edmond Perrier. director
of the Museum Of Natural History. in
dicating as the result of experiments
conducted by NJ Lahy over a period OF
ten years that persons who work con-
stantly In the midst of harsh noise
show symptoms of exceptional fatigue.
due to excessive blood pressure while
working. followed by depression Of the
vital forces" And Emile Gautier. the
well-known scientist. Is quoted as com
pairing city noises ito blows Of ham,
stating that such noises frequently
repeated tend to cause neurasthenia In
persons naturally sensitive to noise"
There Is not the shadow Of . doubt
as to the truth of these observations.
And, further, we venture to state that
there Is not q competent specialist Of
more than five years experience in
any country in the world who cannot
show in his records many cases OF
mental exhaustion from the over use
Of whatever organ falls within his spe-
cial field of observation, be 1t the eye.
ear. nose or any other part
We have long been familiar with the
phenomena of reflex irritation as a
factor in human suffering. but the sub
ject has never received the attention
1t deserves and that 1t is destined to
receive from this time on.
We do not have to be conscious Of
irritation to suffer the reaction from
over stimulation. And here we have
an illustration Of the effect of inertia
on the human mind: for the scientific
gentleman who will so clearly point
out the cause Of many cases Of human
wreckage among his clients Is usually
himself a victim of the. same irritation
from another point Obviously he lacks
either in intellectual integrity or in
that broad grasp of principle approx
mating genius. or he would recognize
in the fourteenth century type of con-
traption he wears on hts feet a source
Of irritation of vastly more destructive
power than can possibly dow from eye.
ear or nose.
Every normal baby born into this
world has a foot SO shaped that a
straight line drawn from the center Of
the end Of the big toe through the cen
ter Of Its base will pass through the
center of the heel of the foot. This
imaginary line was discovered many
years ago by a man named Meyersand
has since been known az Meyers
line" and on the preservation Of this
line depends foot comfort and. to q
very large degree. general health and
happiness AZ well.
When the entire weight of the body
Is thrown on the foot in taking q nor
NAL stride the longitudinal arch will
expand approximately three-quarters
of an inch and the cross arch about
one-half inch. II this free action be
not permitted then It means weaken
ing the muscles Of not only the entire
leg and hips but Of the hack and abdo-
men as well. besides disturbing the
circulation in general and converting
the natural walk into q waddle.
II would be much less harmful II
any person thoroughly convinced that
nature had made q mistake in shaping
the human foot should have his feet
reshaped to suit with saw and knife
than to devote q life time to molding
them into conventional lines by the
usual daily hammering. which 10 bru-
tai and disastrous because each step
taken means . blow ON the brain
tissue.
Nervous exhaustion 10 q powerful
factor in the stupefaction of multi.
tudes who imagine they are III. and
the key to the puzzle 10 without doubt
to be found in the fact that 1t IL
among the class showing the greatest
distortion Of Meyers line" that the
vast majority of the most aggravated
types of neurasthenia are to be found
Any pressure that can possibly dis
tort Meyers line" IL at the same
time applied to this special sense area
and this brings rs face to face With
the question Of nerve cell exhaustion
through foot irritation-a subject on
which the average individual n ex
ceedingly sensitive because It touches
on the style Of the shoe. an article OF
apparel in which there has been little
change in type since It was designed
in the fourteenth century for . class
who never walked.