Why the Shoe Pinches/Front matter
WHY THE SHOE PINCHES
A CONTRIBUTION TO APPLIED ANATOMY.
EDINBURGH: PRINTED BY THOMAS CONSTABLE.
FOR
EDMONSTON AND DOUGLAS.
| LONDON . . . | HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO. |
| CAMBRIDGE . | MACMILLAN & CO. |
| DUBLIN . . . | W. ROBERTSON. |
| GLASGOW . . | JAMES MACLEHOSE. |
Procrustes ante portas
WHY THE SHOE PINCHES
A CONTRIBUTION TO APPLIED ANATOMY
BY HERMANN METER, M.D.,
PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH
Translated from the German by
JOHN STIRLING CRAIG, L.R.C.P.E., L.R.C.S.E.
EDINBURGH:
EDMONSTON AND DOUGLAS.
MDCCCLXI.
PREFACE BY THE TRANSLATOR.
The subject of the following pages may at first sight appear trivial, but I make no apology for having translated what so eminent an anatomist as Professor Meyer has thought fit to write.
Our ideas as to what is elegant and proper in regard to the feet being so radically bad, I have no hope that the promulgation of the proper shape of the shoe will have any sensible influence in reforming the fashions of the day.
There are, however, many who, having outlived the vanities of fashion, sigh for a little comfort did they only know where to find it; who for years have been exerting their ingenuity, and trying in vain, by means of lasts made for their feet, and various other expedients, to attain to the simple luxury of a comfortably fitting shoe, and these I am sure will feel thankful for the information now afforded them.
Parents, too, may be induced to see that the feet of their children are not made deformities before they are fully developed; and I believe that a great boon would be conferred by the introduction of the proposed shape of accidents, and like causes, weakened parts are more susceptible to its influence," and then mentions cases in which first attacks, instead of appearing in the usual seat were limited to the knee or other parts that had suffered from previous injuries. At page 354 he remarks, that "the metatarso-phalangeal joint is one which is subject to pressure and injury from having to support the weight of the body," and he adds, thereby affording impartial evidence as to the evil effects of an improperly shaped shoe, that he has, in many individuals who had never experienced any symptoms of gout, "very commonly found distinct evidence of injury on the surface of the cartilage, both of the head of the metatarsal bone and of the cup-like cavity of the phalanx" All this clearly points to a weakened part, and the merit of our author is in directing attention to the true cause of its production, for the metatarso-phalangeal joint is not, as Dr. Garrod says, actually injured by having to support the weight of the body, but by its having to do so in a constrained and unnatural position.
I may add, what must be well known to most professional readers, that Professor Meyer is the most recent and approved authority on the structure and mechanical adaptations of the foot and lower limbs. His researches on standing, Das aufrecht Stehen, (Erster und zweiter Beiträge zur Mechanik des Menschlichen Knochengerüstes), and on the knee-joint, Die Mechanik des Kniegelenks, appeared in Muller's Archiv in 1853, and have since been incorporated in the Lehrbuch der physiologischen Anatomie, published by our author in 1856, where also will be found his account of the mechanism of the foot (p. 133 et seq.) Knowing, from statements made in his public lectures, and also from his recommending to his students the study of Professor Meyer's Physiological Anatomy, the high value set on these researches by Professor Goodsir of Edinburgh, I have submitted my proof-sheets to him, and am glad to be able to make use of his name as a guarantee for the correctness of my rendering of Professor Meyer's anatomico-physiological details; and I take this opportunity of acknowledging my obligations to my friend and former teacher for much valuable advice, and especially for the following expression of his opinion, which he has kindly permitted me to insert here:—
"The simplicity of the principles inculcated in Professor H. Meyer's work on "The Correct Form of Shoes" impresses the intelligent reader with confidence in their importance and applicability. Their simplicity consists in their scientific character. The author of the work has largely contributed to that recent rapid advance of anatomy and physiology which is due to the employment of more direct and refined methods of investigation. By his researches, more particularly into the structure and actions of the lower limbs, he has given to our conceptions in this department of the science a precision which could only have been attained by the physico-mathematical method of investigation which he employed. The value of his results can only be properly estimated by the anatomist and physiologist; but his practical application of certain of them in the work which you have rendered so successfully in English, cannot fail to be fully appreciated by the general reader"
In conclusion, I have to thank Professor Meyer for his courteous consent to my undertaking this translation, and for the additions with which he was kind enough to favour me. I have also to express my obligations to his publishers, Messrs. Meyer and Zeller of Zürich, for allowing me to have the woodcuts used in the original
- Stratford-on-Avon, July 1860.
PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR.
THE greater part of the following pages appeared, in the spring of 1857, in the second volume of the "Monatschrift des wissenschaftlichen Vereinschrift in Zürich," under the title of "Procrustes ante Portas! Ein Culturgeschichtliches Zeitbild" As its title indicates, this paper was a pretty sharp satire on the many deformities which, through vanity or ignorance, have been thoughtlessly or intentionally inflicted on our bodies. On various occasions I have briefly alluded to evils of this kind, and dwelt more particularly on the errors in the usual form of the coverings of our feet, at the same time giving hints how a more suitable shoe might be obtained without prejudice to the ever-primary consideration of elegance. My attention had been directed to the subject in the following manner: On the one hand my experiments on the mechanism of walking, published elsewhere, led me to remark how utterly bad our foot-clothing is; and on the other, my position as a teacher of anatomy gave me abundant opportunities of observing the almost incredible deformities of the human foot, resulting from the pressure of the shoe. Several well-marked cases having come under my notice in rather rapid succession, I wrote the paper above alluded to, to make known, once for all, my opinions on the subject.
The matter excited much attention amongst those who had the opportunity of seeing this paper, and many medical men recognised, with great interest, the importance of the question involved. From the most varied sources I have since been urgently requested to recast this essay in a separate form, so that its contents might become known to a still wider circle of readers.
I confess having hesitated somewhat to comply with these demands. My scruples were overcome, however, by a consideration of the great importance of the subject, and I yielded the more readily that anatomists so distinguished as Peter Camper and Sömmering had preceded me with similar lucubrations,—the former with his paper "On the Best Shoe," and the latter with a treatise "On Stays." Moreover, it especially behoves anatomists to speak out on such subjects, since, from the nature of their studies, they have at hand the proper material for settling such questions.
The subject treated of by Sömmering concerns only one half of mankind; and of this half, only those who are sufficiently foolish voluntarily to sacrifice comfort, health, and beauty to an absurd fashion
In the case of the shoe, however, all mankind are equally interested; and the ventilation of the subject is the more important that we submit in ignorance only, and do not voluntarily subject ourselves to those injuries to health, and, it may be added, to temper, directly and indirectly inflicted by badly-shaped shoes.
Camper, writing on this subject in the last century, very truly remarks—"All horse-doctors and horse-fanciers are interested in the shoeing of their horses, numerous papers appear thereon, and shall we not concern ourselves about the foot-gear of man?"
Camper's suggestions attracted considerable attention, but his plans found little or no encouragement, because they were so very impracticable, and, above all, because of the very clumsy form of shoe he recommended. May my little work be found more practical! I have, at all events, tried to produce a form in unison with the claims of elegance, and various trials have proved that my plans may be carried out with success.
Zurich, December 1857.