Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-07-25

washing Ohs ~ Va cuAy
little toe a sunerfluous part of anatomy
like the appendix? European society
women seem to think so. and they have
both support and opposition from
science.
Society women abroad are said to
be having their little toes cut OF IN
oredr to wear narrow shoes, and women
in this country are asking curlousiy
what the result will be. There is an
old fairy story i'll which the villain
ess cut off a part Of her heel to wear
the slipper meant for the airy fairy
heroine. She got the slipper on. but
she hobbled so that it was obviosu that
it was not q fit. American women are
asking whether the narrow shoes VIII
fit these European m so that they
will have the poise that comes from a
normal foot comfortably shod. or
whether the missing toe will leave them
rather wobbly, like the character in
the fairy tale.
A government doctor who prefers to
be nameless expressed his unofficial
opinion. He believes that the loss of
one toe would not seriously hamper To-
comotion in an individual who did not
demand too much Of her feet. In 9th
er words. the very languid woman who
need exert herself only to get from her
drawing room to her limousine might
have her little toe cut off without feel
ing any particular loss.
But let women of this energetic age
save their feet to this extent. The wo-
man in society, supposedly a %sedentary
type, often has to stand and look pleas
ant for long stretches of time. Sports
and dancing which play so large a part
in the social whirl demand foo com
fort if any pleasure is to be derived
from them. This doctor thinks that
where poise and balance are important,
as IN most sports. the absence of the
little toe would prove a handicap. For
ordinary walking there would probably
be no discomfort. at least for a time.
When they are encased in tight shoes,
the toes do not function as they do when
a person walks barefooted, and grips
the ground with them.
Trouble May Come Later
However. he thinks that later there
may be trouble, through weakening of
the arches, especially of the transverse
arch at the base of the toes. Experts
say that the weight of the foot is prop
erly distributed when a balance is pre-
served between the three points of the
triangle made by the foot. The heel is
one of the points and the others are
at the base of the first and fifth toes.
A good deal of the trouble with arches
is attributed to the foot's being al
lowed to bend inward. The weight of
the body is then on the inside of the
foot and the pressure is too great
there for the arches. They roll over
inward. and become painful. If the
fifth toe is removed there would be
| more dIftirnIfV IN D11Inf1yn1nU tho
proper weight distribution. the doctor
thinks, and the foot would tend 10 bend
in with resulting weakness and even
tually discomfort.
A teacher of ballet dancing agrees
with this opinion. Both hold that the
outer toes are important for balance.
When you grip the floor with the out
side of the foot the weight is properly
distributed and the arches are raised
as they should be. the ballet dancer
says. If you try this when you are not
wearing a shoe you can see his point
easily. Then let the foot bend in and
see the arch sink and the foot lose its
proper alignment.
Ballet dancers are taught in their
first lessons TO throw their weight
toward the outside of the foot. They
have to put extra force into the
muscles to keep them taut because
they are standing with their toes out,
a position which naturally causes the
foot 10 bend in. Because of the ex-
ample of the dancers, many persons
walk with their toes out thinking it
must be a proper way to hold the
feet. They neglect. however. to exert
the extra pull on the muscles to dis
tribute the balance properly. Tight
shoes also fond Ia mako a parcnp too
out.
Toeing out is regarded by experts
as a cause OF corns, bunions. ingrow-
ing nails, and arch troubles. They
urge that every one should toe in as
Indians and barefoot walkers do.
The theory that all of the toes are
needed for balance is opposed by a
British woman who claims that the