CHAPTER FOUR

THE ANATOMY OF THE FOOT

Very few people, even among those engaged in the shoe industry, know much of the anatomy of the foot. Yet it is evident that they ought to know something about it in order to furnish the foot with a proper covering.

The first thing that strikes a person on looking at the human foot is its large proportion of bone. On pressing its top surface and that of its inner side, the amount of flesh will be found to be very small, indeed. The same is true of the inner and outer ankle. The extreme back of the ankle has scarcely any flesh covering. The most fleshy portions of the foot are its outer side, the base of the heel and the ball of the big toe.

The reason for this disposition of flesh is to protect or cover those parts of the foot that support the body by coming in contact with the ground. They act as pads and lessen the concussion. The abundance of flesh on the outer side of the foot is to protect or act as a shield against danger. The inside of the foot is not exposed as much as the outside.

The foot is divided into three parts, the toes, the waist and instep, and the heel and ankle. The largest bone of the foot is the heel bone (called calcaneum). It is the bone that projects backward from the principal joint and forms the main portion of the heel. When a person is flat-footed, this bone is thrust farther backward than nature intended to have it. The connection between it and the tarsal bones is lost.

The top bone of the foot is the astragalus, and it forms the main joint upon which the process of walking depends. This bone has a smooth, circular, upper surface that connects it with the main bone of the lower leg. It is absolutely necessary that this bone should be in perfect harmony (relation) with the others in order to insure comfort and health. If the arches of the foot are forced out of position, up or down or sidewise, this joint is not permitted to do its work normally.

Rheumatism is a frequent evil of an injured joint. Hence the necessity of absolutely normal action, unhampered by ill-fitting shoes.

The principal arch of the instep is called the cuneiform or tarsal bone. Persons are troubled with defective insteps to quite an extent. Misshapen joints at this point due to shoes that do not fit and consequently disarrange and throw out of position the delicate, natural structure, work great havoc with the comfort of the foot. Nine joints cluster at this point.

The bones of the toes are called the metatarsal bones and phalanges. There can be no doubt that nature intended mankind to walk in his bare feet, and in that event the phalanges of the foot would occupy a much more important part than is now the case as a result of modern civilization. There are nineteen bones in the foot, and the disturbance of one or more of these will serve to upset the entire foot by throwing out of relationship the general unit of work devolving upon the whole number of joints and bones. Each joint has its accompaniment of muscles, and each lack of alignment of bones and joints provokes discord and lack of harmony in the muscular action.

Muscles are attached to bones, and by their contraction or extension the bones are moved. Very few movements are effected by means of a single muscle. The muscles of the foot in nearly all cases are in combination, and are so complex in their action that the best surgeons find it difficult to describe them satisfactorily.

The chief characteristics of the foot are its spring and elasticity. While the foot has wonderful powers of resistance and adaptability, it is the shoemaker’s duty not to strain the same, but to provide for each action.

The most sensitive part or the one part that is most susceptible of injury is the big toe. This is due to the fact that the tendency of the foot in walking is to travel toward the toe of the boot, and in a word to press into rather than shun danger. The shoemaker provides for this, first, by allowing sufficient length of sole to extend beyond the termination of the toe, and second, by the fit of the upper and the preparation of the sole. In this way, if the toe of the shoe strikes against a hard substance, the big toe of the foot will remain untouched.

Seventy-five per cent of the people have more or less trouble with their feet. Some of these troubles are caused by the manufacturer putting on the market shoes whose lines look handsome and attractive to the eye, but are lacking in any other good features. Shoes that fit properly should have plenty of room from the large toe joint to the end of the toes, and also should have plenty of tread, especially at this point.

A mere glance at our bare foot will show conclusively that pointed-toe boots are false in the theory of design. The toes of a foot when off duty touch each other gently. When they are called on to assist us in walking or in supporting our body, they spread out--although not to any great extent. This, then, being the action, no sensible maker of boots and shoes would attempt to restrain them. Box or puff-toe shoes allow the greatest freedom.

The pointed-toe shoes, which join the vamp to the upper immediately over the big toe joint, exceedingly high heels, and thick waist shoes are not for the best interests of the foot.

The evils of ill-fitting shoes are corns, bunions, and calluses.

Corns are mainly due to pressure and friction. When the layers of skin become hardened, they form a corn, which is merely a growth of dead skin that has become hard in the center. This hardened spot acts like a foreign body to the inflamed parts.

A hard corn is formed more by friction than pressure. It is produced by the constant rubbing of a tight or small shoe against the projecting parts of some prominent bony part, as the last joints on the third, fourth, and little toe. When this action continues, it produces inflammation. Rest--as relieving the feet of the friction--decreases this inflammation, leaving a layer of hardened flesh. Renewed action reproduces the same effects, leaving behind a second layer of hardened flesh. This continued action and reaction brings on a callus, rising above the surface of the skin. This increases from its base. An ordinary hard corn may be removed by scraping up the callous skin around its border, and prying out carefully with a knife. Soft corns are chiefly the result of pressure or friction. These corns are soft and spongy elevations on the parts of the skin subjected to pressure. Soft corns are mostly found on the inner side of the smaller toes. Those on the surface of joints by mechanical action will become hard.

The blood corn is excessively painful. It is the result of an ordinary corn forcibly displacing the blood vessels surrounding it, and causing them to rest upon its surface.

The bunion is an inflammatory swelling generally to be found on the big toe joint. The chief cause of bunions is known to be the wearing of boots or shoes of insufficient length. The foot, meeting with resistance in front and behind, is robbed of its natural actions, the result being that the big toe is forced upward, and subjected to continuous friction and pressure. The wearing of narrow-toe boots that prevent the outward expansion of the toe is another cause.

The comparisons of quantities are often called ratios. The ratios of the different parts of the foot to the height are different in the infant from that of the adult period. Between these two periods the ratios are constantly changing.

There are two series of shoe sizes on the market; the smallest size of shoe for infants (size No. 1) is, or was originally, four inches long; each added full size indicates an increase in length of one third of an inch (sizes 1 to 5). Children’s sizes run in two series, 5 to 8, and 8 to 11; then they branch out into youths’ and misses’; both running 11½, 12, 12½, 13, 13½ and back again to 1, 1½, 2, etc., in a series of sizes that run up into men’s and women’s. Boys’ shoes run from 2½ to 5½; men’s from 6 to 11 in regular runs. Larger sizes usually are made upon special orders. Some few manufacturers go to 12. Women’s sizes run from 2½ to 9. Some manufacturers do not go above size 8. The rate of sizes is sometimes varied from by manufacturers of special lines of shoes. A man’s No. 8 shoe would be nearly eleven inches long. These measurements originated in England and are not now absolute.

A system of French sizes is used which consists of a cipher system of markings to indicate the sizes as well as widths so that the real size may not be known to the customer.

All feet are not alike in structure and shape. In infancy the foot is broad at the toes, which press forward in the direction of their length. The heel is small in comparison to the width of the toes, and also short in length, due to the undeveloped bones. But during growth, the thickness above the heel bones disappears, and the heel itself becomes thicker and assumes the beauty of perfection at maturity. This development is due to the growth of bones which must be well exercised and properly cared for during this period. The various parts of the feet and legs do not mature at the same rate--those at the upper part of the body increase at a greater rate than the lower parts. Thighs develop first, next the upper part of the legs, and lastly the feet.

The adult foot, when properly formed, is straight from heel to toe on the inner side, and is wider across the joints than one inch or so farther back. The manner of walking has a considerable bearing on the character and development of the foot.

There are many sorts of feet, which are due to a number of causes, such as habits, climate, occupation, locality, etc. As a general rule we may divide the feet into four classes: Bony feet--those with very little flesh upon them; hard feet--those that have plenty of flesh, but which are almost as hard as a stone; fat feet--plump, with plenty of flesh, but having little shape; spongy feet--those that seem to have no bones in them, usually found in the female sex.

The characteristics of a foot are common with the body to which it is connected. Some people have a strong, bony frame, with strong, firm muscles, prominent bones and muscles, and a flesh that is hard. The feet of this type of person are usually long, bony, and arched, with a well-developed big toe joint. The heel measurements are large in proportion. A soft foot is prevalent among the Scotch. The feet of a person who is delicately shaped, with a small frame and thin, small, tapering muscles, are usually thin and finely formed, giving evidence of quickness. This kind of a foot in a man has a tendency to develop a flat foot.

A person with a form inclined to plumpness, full of exercise and activity, and a good circulation, has a well-developed foot. The heel is round and fairly prominent, although there are no special bony prominences. On the other hand a person with a body of general roundness, but with tissues and muscles flabby, and a languid blood circulation, has feet that are short, soft, and flabby.

We will allow that these four different kinds of feet all measure a 4 size and D in width. One would naturally think that the same size shoe would fit them all, but this is not so. This size shoe will only fit one and that is the bony foot. The hard feet require a C½ width; the fat feet require a C width, and the sponge feet require a B width.

The same last may, and often will possess a slight variation in some manner or other. The fitter of feet must know the stock, each pair, and be on intimate terms with the peculiarities of each last and the inside lines of each pair of shoes before attempting to try them upon the feet of the customer.

Different makes of footwear are apt to be manufactured over a slightly varying system of measurements. One line of shoes made over a small measure may be longer or shorter or narrower or wider than some other line. The heel measurements require careful study for each line introduced. The peculiarities of each line must be tested by tape and measure, and the foot fitter must have a strong knowledge along these lines.

We should measure the foot by the stick if necessary, and make a note of the size and width that will be likely to prove a fit. The height of the arch must be considered, and the shape of arch curve, the shape of the instep, and the general contour of the foot. A normal foot will show about a half-inch arch. The average foot will carry from an inch to an inch and a quarter heel, without putting a strain on any of the joints of the foot. Some feet vary from this by a wide margin. A foot is a trifle longer in walking than in repose. Allowance should be made, in using the measuring stick, over what the foot actually draws on the stick. In men’s shoes the allowance, should be from two to two and one half sizes.

When a one-legged man buys a shoe, the dealer sends to the factory a shoe to match the one left remaining. In these days of the use of machinery in every process of their manufacture, shoes are made with the utmost exactness and precision, and it is easily possible to mate that remaining shoe with the greatest nicety in size, style, material, and finish.

Few people have feet exactly alike; commonly the left foot is larger than the right, so that one shoe may fit a little more snugly than the other. Commonly, however, people buy shoes in regularly matched pairs, the difference in their feet, if it is noticeable to them at all, not being enough to make any other course desirable.

But there are people who buy shoes of different sizes or widths, in which case the dealer breaks two pairs for them, giving them, to fit their feet, one shoe from each. In such cases the dealer matches up the two remaining shoes, one from each of two pairs just as he would where he had broken one pair to sell one shoe to a one-legged man.

But a man does not have to be one-legged nor to have feet of uneven sizes or shapes to make him ask the dealer to break a pair of shoes for him. A man with two perfectly good feet came into the store where he was accustomed to buy and wanted one shoe. While traveling in a sleeping car, his shoes had been mixed up with others and he had received back one of his own and one of some other man’s; a fact which he had not discovered until he was too far away from train and station to set things right. So he came in to buy one shoe to match his own.