Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-07-25

WASHINGTON, July 22-Is the
little toe a superf1uous part of the
anatomy like the appendix? Euro
pean 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 off in
order to wear narrow shoes, and
women in this country ere asking
curiously what the result will be.
There is an old fairy story in which
the villainess cut off a part of her
heel to wear slipper meant for the
fairy heroine. She got the slipper
on, but she hobbled so hat it was
obvious that it was not a fit. Amer
lean women are asking whether the
narrow shoes will fit these European
women 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 unoffl-
cial opinion. He believes that the
loss of one toe would not serious
ly hamper locomotion in an indi-
vidual who did not demand too
much of her feet. In other 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 feeling any particular loss.
But few women of this energetic
age save their feet to this extent.
The woman in society. supposedly a
sedentary type, often has to stand
and look pleasant for long stretch
es of time. Sports and dancing
which play so large a part in the
social whirl demand foot comfort if
any pleasure is to be derived from
them. This doctor thinks that
where poise and balance are import
ant, as in most sports, the absence
of the little toe would prove a han
dicap. For ordinary walking there
would probably be no discomfort, at
| least for a time. When they are en-
| cased in tight shoes the toes do not
| function as they do when a person
walks b~arefooted, and grips the
ground with them.
Trouble May Come Later
However, he thinks that later
| there may be trouble, through weak
| ening of the arches, especially of the
transverse arch at the base OF the
toes. Experts say that the weight
of the foot is properly distributed
| when a balance is preserved between
| A good deal of the troublenustaat
the three points of the triangle made
by the foot. The heel is enc 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 or
| 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 woul be
more difficulty in maintaining the
proper weight distribution, the doc
tor thinks, and the fact would tend
to bend in with resulting weakness
| and eventually 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 outside 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 wearing a shoe
YOU can see his point 'easily. hen
let the foot bend in and see the
arch sink and the foot lose It's
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 be-
cause they are standing with their
toes out, a position which naturally
causes the foot to bend in. ecaus
of the example of the dancers many
persons walk with their toes Out
thinking it must be a proper way to
hold the feet. They neglect. how
ever, to exert the extra pull on their
muscles to distribute the balance
properly. Tight shoes also tend TO
make a perso ntoe out. 49,
Toeing out is regarded by experts
as a cause of corns. bunion, IN
growing nails, and arch troubles.
They urge that every one should be
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