Objection is made that boots with a straight, or nearly straight, inside line give the feet a pigeon-toed or inverted appearance, which is unnatural. This is not altogether due to the eye being accustomed to a more conventional pattern. It is, I am sure, mainly due to a removable cause. Any conspicuous line, that of the laces or a seam, is always carried from the front of the leg to a central point on the upper surface of the foot. The eye, falling on this line, in imagination continues or produces it, and so divides the front part diagonally into two very unequal portions, the larger on the inner side. I have found that if the line of the laces or seam be kept parallel throughout to the line of the long extensor tendon—in other words, along the crest of the ridge, thus marking out a distinctive feature—the unpleasant effect is removed.
In proper walking, which can not be done in an improper boot, friction of the foot on the sole and of the latter on the ground is reduced to a minimum, the sole being pressed against, not rubbed along, the surface. This is shown by the very little wearing of the leather; when at last it does give way, it should be at an oval spot a little distance from the margin of the sole, under the middle joint of the great-toe. This is the last point to leave the ground in walking; here, therefore, is the greatest tendency to slide on the surface and consequent friction.
The great-toe, in any but the most perfect feet now to be found, is so easily diverted outward that socks and stockings with a straight inner line are very desirable; indeed, no others can be said to really fit the feet. When any considerable distortion exists, a separate stall for the great-toe is necessary.
For the reasons given, a last should have the inner margin nearly in a line with the inner side of the heel, and joining in front by a rounded angle a long curve on the outer margin, where no angle should be shown. The sole should be flat, touching the base-line in front. The thickest part (highest vertically) should throughout be on the inner margin, especially above the ball of the great-toe. The boots should have low heels—to be perfect, none. The line of laces or of any conspicuous seam down the front should be in a line corresponding with the inner margin of the foot along the highest part. The boot should, if possible, be left on the last for a considerable time, to overcome the tendency of the leather to recoil after the forcible stretching to which it has been subjected, and so to fix it in its proper shape.—Lancet.
