Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-07-30

Il
| ploycs of the War Department by
order of HurgeonIGenerai William
Crawford Gorgas. They are prob
| ably the most authoritative advice
| upon medicine and hygiene which
has ever been offered the public in
popular form. This talk VIVA deliver
ed by Major w G. Erving. Medical
| Corps, N. A.
Feet in 6rst-class condition nre es-
Hential to efficiency; for even II your
| occupation docs not require much walk
| ing you cannot work while sufTering the
| discomforts of corns, brInions or fallen
arches
To have sound feet, il 10 necessary,
| first OF all, To learn how 10 use them
| correctly, and how to avoid abusing
| them You must aIso know how to
| choose footwear, how 10 care for ynIr
| feet, and how to attend to their minor
| ailments
We have to get over the idea that The
| foot ia prop II s not a prop and the
| lcc~ we use u M n prop and the more we
u,c IL 10 get about with, the better uff
We are II is tho tendency of modern
| life tn use the foot a great deal for stand
ing. In primitive life IL wsa used very
| little for standing
not walking they are sitting, hut IN
modern life great many occupations
require standing and standing without
re-t for n good many hours in The course
of the dav The waiter Is n wel-known
instance Of this type Of occupation He
s on his feet and standing stiff for great
deal nf the time The butcher and the
grocer arr other instances and great deal
of clerical work is done standing on the
feet
SIT Dowr wurr ron CAN
OF late years efforts have been nade
to give people the opportunity tn cit
down whenever IL ~ possible Tho hee
bone is not directly underneath the bodyl
but is placed at considerable angie TO.
The outside; consequently. IN standing.
the font Is only kept square ny con
stand effort Of the muscles on the other
side You tire out these muscles and
ligaments, and then instead of letting
your weight come down op a definite
arched surface. vou gradually turn the
foot over more and more. tho ligements
gradually give way. and presently the
muscles are exhausted and make no
further effort
The foot is consequently painful, and
if has Io~t its SHAPE. that of an arch This
! ~ the great trouble IN standing for any
great length nf time and ~ a thing n he
avoided just much possible. When
We have to stand We should Try IN shift
the weight from one foot n the Other 81
as not to overtirn one set Of ureeles
SIT down when possible.
Walking IL, of course, a fairly srrnple
motion and what tho foot was primarily
designed for. but a great many people
walk badly II is common eTprrssion
to say that q person ~ . good walker or
q poor walker Difficulty in walking often
starts very early IN life, with small chil-
dren Children are either So heavy that
the foot gives way, or they have heon
sick for long time and the muscles /
have not developed, or they have been /
walk ng IN improper shoes.
now TO STAND rRorrRLr.
The last IL one of the chief reasons for
difficulty in walking IN adults. and to a
great extent IN children 30 should
consider always. both IN walking and
standing that we should STRAIN the foot
just as little as possible In standing
~ well as in walking. the best position
is with tho foot parallel The old idea
OF standing with the feet spread out has
been gwen up.
If bad habits have been developed II
the foot ls rolling over to one side and
IL very weak and easily tired ont, how
are these habits TO be OverOomei The
best way Is % practice walking by the
roper method. That seems very simple
but IT Is not as simple as you would
maglne The movements Of the foot
require regular training in tho proper
way
In the first place YOU should walk with
the foot straight ahead, one foot parallel
-
tribes walk with one foot almost directly
ahead OF the other; the Indians, for ex-
ample, never 'toed out Walking should
not be q stiff, heavy gaIt, but spring ON
the anterior arch of the foot. The springy
gait is the important thing, for that
brings INTO play both the big muscle Of
he calf and the other two muscles. 50
with all the muscles fmctlonating proper
ly and normally they keep in their normal
condition II one walks slowly, he forms
the habit of making all the muscles from
the knee work and the foot becomes sum
ply balancing apparatus
OF course, IN walking IN the footgear
that we do, the front part of the foot is
not allowed 20 develop as much as it
would IN normal, primitive conditions.
There the front part Of the foot is spread
out by the muscles Of the ach, so that in
WHINING Iilc toeS anu eslCn ETip the ground,
and consequently these muscles are very
much developed under primitive CON
ditions
There are various ways Of training the
foot by shoe arches, etc, and this is often
necessary if the foot has degenerated
beyond certain point. In order to get
rid of this support, we should get into the
habit Of exercising the muscles that have
become weak by improper use, and there
are several simple exercises which ac-
,omplish great deal, although most Of us
are too lazy 10 spend ten minutes a dav
10 make the foot do it's own work
SIMPLE EXERCISE
One simple exercise is simply to stand
with the foot parallel and the knees
straight and try to rotate the leg out
ward without moving the foot any NOR
han necessary That brings into play the
inc muscles.
The second exercise Is to stand with
he foot over a sharp edge and bend the
Oes down just as far as possible If
hey are more or less stiff, you will have
o help them by pressing them down with
he hand, but get free play of the toes up
and down
fTheY, Sta,,d an ov .rd;~.,r,, e,,~F,.,, .,,,4 (