Charles Roberts

“ Indeed, both the highly arched instep and the everted foot are peculiar to civilized peoples, and are absent from the lower races, especially those who go barefoot, and both conditions owe their existence to the wasting of the muscles which flex the toes and foot by the constant use of tight-fitting shoes. In India, where the native workman makes use of his toes with almost the same facility as his fingers, the instep is obliterated by the fleshy bellies of the abductor of the great toe and the short flexor of the toes, which stretch across the arch from their attachment to the heel-bone. ”

“ It is here, indeed, that nearly all the mischief lies, for according to my experience ninety per cent of the cases of lateral curvature of the spine in girls are associated with flat-foot. This deformity is exceedingly common among women, and a French savant recently quoted it as a proof of the physical inferiority of woman to man. To a slight extent flatfoot may exist in all women, as the position of the lower limbs after puberty would seem to produce it, and it may be Nature's plan to promote what anthropologists call marriage by capture ”

“ It is, indeed, almost peculiar to girls verging on puberty, and is as often found in strong and healthy as in weak and delicately built girls, and most commonly in those who are too fat and heavy for their stature and age. It is a deformity which is less common among the laboring classes than among the rich and well-to-do, and is largely associated with a life of indolence and luxury. ”

“ The knee-cap in women looks straight forward, while in men it is turned a little outward; and in women the knees touch, or even overlap each other, while in men they are quite free. In running, a woman has to move the knees round each other, and to throw the feet out in a succession of small semicircles, which accounts for the peculiarity in her gait. ”

“ Sitting on the ground or on a sofa, in the cross legged, Oriental position, serves to expand the pelvis, evert the knees and invert the ankles, and counteract all the deformities; while sitting on chairs with the legs crossed one over the other directly favors them. It is probable that most children spend too much of their time on their feet, and that their power of walking is very much overrated. Running is the natural gait of all young animals, and children always run if left to play by themselves. ”

“ The specialist who concentrates all his attention on a narrow field of study and practice is tempted to exaggerate its importance, and to analyze and disintegrate his facts till he loses sight of their relation to and their dependence on each other ”

“ It is a distinction, however, which is more than counterbalanced by the ugliness and inconvenience of flat-foot, to which it frequently gives rise. The ingenuity of an Edison could not devise a machine so favorable to the production of flat-foot as the tight-fitting, high-heeled, long-topped boot at present worn by girls. ”

“ How else can we explain the difference in practice between the fussy mechanical ingenuity with which many professed orthopedists treat the slightest deformities of children—which, by the way, they often tell us are only visible to their specially trained eye, and are hidden from that of the family doctor—and the sang-froid of the general practitioner who meets the difficulties by the administration of a few doses of steel and quinine and rest in the recumbent position? ”

“ Setting aside the cases of lateral curvature in children who have been affected with rickets, disease of joints, paralysis or loss of a limb in early life, and which affect both sexes and all ages equally, what may be called the idiopathic or acquired deformity is rarely found in children of either sex under the age of nine or ten years, and very rarely in boys above that age. ”

“ Standing at lessons, parade-exercise, and much of the military drill in schools are injurious to both boys and girls, and especially to the latter. Instead of listless standing about, or taking long walks with adults, children should be permitted and encouraged to play lively games, which they will generally do even if left to themselves, to dance, and to perform short but spirited gymnastic exercises with apparatus. Exercises which develop the muscles of the feet and ankles, such as hopping and skipping, are especially necessary for girls ”

“ From ten to fourteen years the stature of girls increases at a uniform rate of two inches per year, except at thirteen, when it is two inches and a half; but the weight increases at a much greater rate. ”

“ These systems lack motive to complete an exercise, while simple apparatus, such as balls, dumb-bells, and bars, compel it by keeping the end in view, and giving an impetus to its performance. With half the care which mothers spend on dressing and decking-out their children, often in unsuitable clothing, they might, with a little help from their medical advisers, prevent most of the deformities which mar the physical beauty, comfort, and health of their offspring ”

“ Some observations recently made in America show that even in adults of both sexes the two legs are rarely of equal length, and there must be, therefore, slight lateral curvature in all persons, and it is probable that these natural curves become exaggerated, as in the development of round shoulder the large antero-posterior curves of the spine are exaggerated. ”

“ The Swedish and other exercises effected without apparatus are of little use, as idle and indolent girls who stand most in need of physical training easily comply with the form, but evade the spirit and hearty compliance which such systems demand. ”

“ Of 10,000 children, between the ages of eight and thirteen years, which were examined, about one third were schoolchildren living in country towns and agricultural districts, another third were school-children living in manufacturing towns, and the remainder were factory-children. ”

“ This condition of the limbs is well seen in pictures and statues of the nude figure, and it is often exaggerated by the artist or sculptor, probably to give a more distinct idea of a woman's helplessness or modesty. ”