News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1915-08-25
Copyright, 1914, by A. S. Cray
THE FOOT.

umnS OF Lne 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 M. Lahy over 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
we'll known scientist, is quoted as COM
pairing city noises ito blows of ham,
mer upon the nervous SYSTEM" and
stating that such noises frequently
repeated tend to cause neurasthenia in
persons naturally sensitive to noise"
There is not the shadow of a doubt
as to the truth of these observations
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
it deserves and that it is destined to
receive from this time on.
We do not have to be conscious of
irritation to suffer the reaction from
overstimulation. 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
lmating genius, or he would recognize
in the fourteenth century type of con-
traption he wears on his feet a source
of irritation of vastly more destructive
power than can possibly flow from eye,
ear or nose.
Every normal baby born into this
world has 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 man named Meyer and
has since been known as Meyers
line" and on the preservation of this
line depends foot comfort and, to a
very large degree, general health and
happiness as well.
The foot is composed of 26 bones,
more or less movable. Fourteen of
these belong to the toes, the remaining
II being a series of odd shaped bones
forming two arches. The weight of
the body is carried on the astragalus,
the highest bone in the arch. These
two arches are held up by two sets of |
tendons originating in the heavy calf |
muscles. One set, running down under |
the heel bone and extending from heel |
to toes, strings the longitudinal arch |
up just as bowstring strings a bow; |
others running down the inside of the |
leg turn under the arch of the instep |
and, extending across the sole of the |
foot, are anchored to bone near the |
base of the little toe, stringing up the |
arch. The give and pull of
the calf muscles on these tendon ropes
LlcIL DOlu uP LIlC a. lCo lO1 81 MOl~
derfully efficient set of springs and in
sures an easy, graceful, swinging and
ever enduring gait if they are permit
ted to operate.
When the entire weight of the body
Is thrown on the foot in taking nor
nal stride the longitudinal arch will
expand approximately three-quarters
If an inch and the cross arch about
,ne-half inch. If this free action be
lot permitted then it means weaken
ng the muscles of not only the entire
eg and hips but of the back and abdo-
men as well, besides disturbing the
circulation in general and converting
he natural walk into a waddle. Few
eople walk these days-they cannot;
hey tire too easily because their CEN
er of gravity is displaced.
1t would be much less harmful If
ny person thoroughly convinced that
allure had made a mistake in shaping
he human foot should have his feet re-
haped to suit with saw and knife than
D devote life time to holding them
lto conventional lines by the usual
ally hammering, which is brutal and
isastrous because each step taken
leans a blow on the brain tissue.
Nervous exhaustion is a powerful
actor in the stupefaction of multi
ldes. who imagine they are i'll, and the
ey to the puzzle is without doubt to
Q found in the fact that it is among
lie class showing the greatest dis
,rtion of Meyers line" that the vast
Iajority of the most aggravated types
neurasthenia are to be found.
Any pressure that can possibly dis
'rt Meyers line" is at the same time
pplied to this special sense area, and
lis brings US face to face with the
lestion of nerve cell exhaustion
trough foot irritation-a subject on
hich the average individual is ex-
sedingly sensitive because 1t touches
/ the style of the shoe, an article of
1parel in which there has been little
lange in type since it was designed
the fourteenth century for a class
ho never walked.