the body; and it is this _obliquity_ in the movements of the joints,
added to the _curves_ and _twists_ in the shape of the bones, that
constitutes one of the chief difficulties in investigating and clearly
understanding the mechanism of the human frame. It has been said
that “Nature abhors a vacuum:” it may with equal truth be said that
she abhors a straight line. In the Human Skeleton, at any rate, all
the bones are bent and twisted, some in two or three directions; and
the surfaces by which any bone is jointed to the adjacent bones, are
invariably oblique with regard to each other.
[Illustration: Fig. 9.]
Take, for instance, the _tibia_, or large bone of the leg, of which
a front view and an inner side view are given in the drawings. The
tibia is a column transmitting weight from the thigh to the foot;
and in any machine of man’s construction a column fulfilling similar
purposes would be made straight and of uniform diameter throughout.
The bone, on the contrary, does not present the same thickness at any
two parts of its length. It has a distinct bend, forwards, in nearly
its whole length (fig. 10): there are lateral curves, alternating
like those in the letter S, seen along its front (fig. 9): and
the articular surface at the lower end is placed obliquely with regard
to that at its upper end, in consequence of a twist in the shaft, in
such a manner that when the hinder surface of the upper end of the bone
rests upon a board, the lower end touches the board only by its outer
corner (fig. 10). This disposition of the lower end, I may remark,
assists to give the foot a slant outwards from the heel to the toe, so
that when we stand, with the heels together, the great toes of the two
feet diverge a little from one another.
[Illustration: Fig. 10.]
Moreover, the surfaces by which the tibia is jointed with the
thigh-bone at the knee are arranged with a varying degree of obliquity,
so that the relation of the leg to the thigh varies somewhat in
different positions of the limb. For instance, when we stand upright,
the _thigh_ slants _in_wards from the pelvis, and the _leg_ descends
in a _vertical_ direction to the ground. While, however, the knee is
being bent the leg is carried, not in a vertical plane, but a little
obliquely, so that the lower part soon begins to slant _out_wards; and
when the knee is fully bent the obliquity of the leg and that of the
thigh correspond, and the leg is, as it were, folded up against the
thigh. The heel is thus brought up, not to the middle line of the body,
but to the hip, and we are enabled to sit with the hips upon the heels,
as the Japanese are represented doing, or with one hip upon one heel--a
position in which our riflemen are trained to take aim, and in which
their predecessors with the arrow were wont to shoot, as is shown by
the accompanying sketch of a bowman (fig. 11), taken from one of
the Æginetan marbles in the Glyptothek at Munich.
[Illustration: Fig. 11.]
A variety of purposes is attained by the curvilinear shape of the
bones and the obliquity in the movements of the joints. Not the least
of these is the appearance of elegance and ease which is given to the
whole frame, both when it is at rest and when it is in motion. In
order that you may fully appreciate this result, I would ask you, the
next time you are in a gallery of antique statuary, to contrast the
figures which the Egyptians have left us with those by the Greeks. In
the former you will find that straight lines and right angles prevail:
the figure sits, probably, bolt upright, with the elbows, hips, knees,
and ankles bent at right angles: the fingers commonly run straight
forwards; and a hand is often laid upon each knee, the limbs of the two
sides being quite symmetrically placed. Such statues may be imposing;
but they are stiff and unnatural. They represent positions which the
body rarely assumes; and they, certainly, are far from pleasing. Very
different is the Greek statuary. A correct representation of nature
is the great difficulty and the highest consummation of art; and the
Greeks evinced their greatness in art by a true appreciation and
close imitation of natural form. The position of their figures is
life-like; and, therefore, we love to contemplate them. The outline
in them exhibits a graceful disposition of curves and obliques; and
it is because the great sculptors of Greece were, in this and in
other respects, so true to nature that their works have commanded the
admiration, and served as models for the imitation, of all succeeding
ages.
It is one of the master results of creation, and one of the peculiar
marks of creative genius, that _perfection_ and _beauty_ are usually
presented together. As truth is the soul of eloquence, so is perfection
the soul of beauty. The works of nature are beautiful because there is
so much excellence in them, such admirable adaptation to their purpose;
and we find the works of man beautiful only so far as they are correct
imitations of their great originals in nature, or show some approach
to nature’s excellence. And man is the most beautiful object in nature
because he is the most perfect, that is, because the purpose of his
existence is the highest, and because his physique exhibits the most
marvellous moulding to adapt it to its high purpose; because, in short,
in him the material is wrought to such a point of refinement as to be
the receptacle and minister of the immaterial.
The movements of the three joints between the foot and the leg take
place in harmony. The following is the order observed. The raising
of the _heel_ is accompanied by a rolling of the foot _in_wards, and
by an increased _flexure_ of the plantar arch; and the raising of
the _toes_ is accompanied by a rolling of the foot _out_wards and a
_straightening_ of the sole.
_The Muscles of the Leg and Foot._
[Illustration: Fig. 12.]
The _first_ series of the movements just described is effected,
mainly, by three muscles. Of these one (A, fig. 12) raises the
heel while the other two (B, fig. 12, and C, fig. 13) raise
and support the ankle. The muscle which acts upon the heel is one of
the largest and most powerful in the body; and well it may be, for in
raising the heel it has to raise the whole weight of the body. Its
fibres, accumulated at the middle and upper part of the leg, form the
“calf;” below they taper into a thick tendon (a) connected with the
hinder extremity of the heel-bone, and called the _Tendo Achillis_. The
name, it need scarcely be said, refers to the tale of Thetis holding
her son Achilles by this part when she dipped him in the river Styx.
Her hand prevented the part from coming in contact with the water; and
so it did not partake of the invulnerability which was conferred upon
the rest of his body by the immersion. We read, accordingly, he was
finally killed by a wound in the heel[2].
[2] It does not appear that the legend is based upon any peculiar
ideas of susceptibility attached to the heel among Eastern nations;
nor can the passages in Scripture, that the Serpent shall bruise
man’s heel (Genesis iii. 15); “For the greatness of thine iniquity
are thy heels made bare” (Jeremiah xiii. 22), be adduced as
indicating the existence of such an idea. There are some other myths
resembling this one of Achilles; but in them a different part of
the body missed the protecting influence. Thus, Ajax was wrapped by
Hercules in the skin of the Nemæan lion, and was, thereby, rendered
invulnerable, except at the pit of the stomach where the edges of
the skin did not quite meet; and he killed himself by running his
sword in there. In the _Niebelungenlied_, the hero, Siegfried, is
represented to have rendered himself invulnerable by smearing himself
with the blood of a dragon which he had killed. A leaf, however,
adhering to his back, prevented the contact of the fluid with one
spot. The secret was unwarily communicated by his wife Krimhild to
his enemy Hagan, who took advantage of the information to plunge his
sword into the fatal spot while Siegfried was stooping down to drink
at a rivulet.
The lesson inculcated by these myths seems to be that all men, even
heroes, have their weak points.
The other two muscles (B and C) also descend from the leg and terminate
in tendons (b and c) which pass, one on either side, behind the
projections (D and E) which we call respectively the inner and outer
ankle, to the inner and outer edges of the instep. They assist to raise
the ankle, and support it so as to prevent its swerving from side to
side; and they permit it to play to and fro upon them, like a pulley
upon ropes running under it, in a safe and easy manner. The inner (b,
fig. 12) of the two tendons passes, as before mentioned, beneath
the head of the key-bone, and adds greatly to the strength of the arch.
It is, moreover, the chief agent in effecting the two movements which
are associated with the elevation of the heel, viz. the turning of the
sole inward and the flexion of the foot.
[Illustration: Fig. 13.]
The _second_ series of movements--the raising the toes, the turning
the sole downwards, and the straightening the foot--are effected by
two muscles (F, fig. 12, and G, fig. 13), the tendons (f and
g) of which pass, one in front of the inner ankle, and the other in
front of the outer ankle, to the respective edges of the instep. These
require much less power than their opponents; and the muscles on the
front of the leg are, therefore, smaller and weaker than those behind.
A question of practical interest here suggests itself. How is the
balance between these antagonistic muscles maintained, and the
proper position of the foot preserved? If the muscles which cause
the elevation of the heel and the other movements associated with it
are so much stronger than those which produce the opposite series of
movements, and if, as we know to be the case, muscles are always, even
when a limb is at rest, contracting with a certain amount of force, why
do not those of superior power gain and maintain the ascendancy, and
hold the limb in the position to which they have a tendency to draw it?
And why, in this instance, are not the feet kept with the heels raised
and the soles inturned and bent? The reply is, that the ill consequence
suggested is prevented, and a proper adjustment between the opponent
sets of muscles, in this and other parts of the body, is effected
through the medium of the nervous system. That system institutes
friendly relations, and compels an orderly and harmonious action of the
several muscles; and it does so by frequently exerting its influence
upon them, keeping them in drill, as it were, and enforcing the habit
of yielding in a kindly manner to one another.
[Illustration: Fig. 14. Club-foot.]
You have often observed, and perhaps wondered at, the almost
incessant, semi-involuntary and, seemingly, meaningless movements of
infants, especially the peculiar sprawlings out of their fingers and
toes. Now these are for the purpose of keeping the different sets
of muscles in practice and in order, till the will acquires a due
control, when they gradually cease. They are going on before birth as
well as afterwards; and when they are deficient, or when they take
place irregularly, in consequence of an imperfection in the nervous
system, the limbs are liable to become deformed. The feet, under these
circumstances, are often drawn into the very position I have just
mentioned; the sole is turned inwards and upwards, so as never to touch
the ground; the heel and the toes are approximated; and the foot rests
upon the ground on the outer side, or quite on the fore part, of the
instep. Such a condition constitutes one of the most common forms of
what is called “club foot.” Children are often born with one or both of
their feet thus distorted. Happily, however, if they be submitted in
time to the modern improved modes of treatment they may usually be set
right. The accompanying woodcut gives a sketch of the foot of a young
woman who had not the good fortune to be thus attended to.
The muscles compose the flesh or chief part of the bulk of a limb. The
“calf” is almost entirely made up of the fibres of the “calf-muscle.”
But at the ankle there are no muscles. As they descend the leg, all
the _muscular_ fibres disappear, and there are only _tendons_. These,
though much thinner than the muscles, are very strong; and they are the
cords or ropes by which the muscles pull upon distant parts. As they
pass over the ankle they are strapped down close to the bones by means
of stout sinewy cross-bands, which prevent their starting from their
places when the muscular portions pull at them.
Two especial advantages result from this arrangement.
_First_, the lower part of the leg and the ankle are reduced in size.
Thereby the resistance to the passage of the limb through the air is
lessened; and when it is upon the ground, the leg is less in the way of
the other foot which is swinging, to and fro, beside it. An elegance
of shape is also thereby imparted. The “pretty ankle” owes much of its
charm to the mode in which the tendons are disposed. How comparatively
thick and clumsy would the ankle be if the tendons of the toes took the
straight course represented by the line _a_ in the drawing, instead of
being bound down, as they are, to the curve of the ankle!
[Illustration: Fig. 15.]
_Secondly_, the obliquity with which the tendons run to their
insertions is increased by this arrangement; and the velocity of the
movements to which they minister is increased also. True, a loss of
strength is involved in such a disposition, but the gain in velocity is
of more importance. If (to refer again to the diagram, fig. 15)
the tendon ran in a straight course from the front of the leg to the
great toe, the angle at which it joined the toe would enable it to act
with more strength; but the movements connected with it could not be so
quick as they now are.
We find in the construction of the human frame many instances in which
strength is sacrificed to rapidity of movement in this and other ways.
Scarcely any conceivable amount of strength, for instance, would be an
adequate compensation for a loss of that celerity of movement of the
hand which enables us to strike a blow and drive a nail. No wonder,
therefore, that strength is here sacrificed to obtain celerity. And the
same principle holds good for other parts.
The length and direction of the heel affords a good illustration of
the principle of which I am speaking. When the heel-bone runs out to
a considerable distance, and nearly straight, behind the ankle, as it
does in some of the lower animals and in the inferior races of mankind,
it presents a better leverage to the calf-muscle, which is, then,
enabled to raise the ankle with a less amount of effort; but there
is proportionately less velocity. Accordingly, in the more perfectly
formed foot, such as we find it in the higher races of mankind, the
heel-bone, instead of running out backwards, descends very obliquely,
almost vertically.
In this instance, the loss of strength, which is thus incurred for
the purpose of acquiring celerity in movement, is usually compensated
for by the greater development of the calf-muscle. Hence the high heel
and the well-developed calf go together; and, like most of the other
features of good bodily formation, they are, on the whole, best marked
in the nations which are endued with the highest intelligence, and
which are, in this way, physically, as well as mentally, qualified
to occupy the foremost places in the human family. Thus, we may mark
a relation between the heel and the brain; and, as the comparative
anatomist is able by the inspection of a bone to trace out the skeleton
to which it belonged, so might it be possible for the human anatomist,
by observing minutely the peculiarities of the heel and the other
features of the foot in any particular race of men, to form some
estimate of the capacity and conformation of the skull, and thereby, of
the amount of intelligence.
Contrast the foot and leg of the EUROPEAN (fig. 16), as
represented in the drawing reduced from the Farnese Hercules, with
those of the NEGRO (fig. 17), the drawing of which was taken from
a native of Sierra Leone. In the former the leg is plump and the calf
well developed; the foot is compact and well arched; the heel descends
nearly vertically; and the inner ankle stands clearly out and is raised
high above the ground. In the Negro the leg is thinner and the calf is
not so well defined; the foot is long, flat, and sprawling; the heel is
more horizontal; and the inner ankle does not show clearly, and almost
touches the ground.
[Illustration: Fig. 16.]
[Illustration: Fig. 17.]
[Illustration: Fig. 18. European.]
[Illustration: Fig. 19. Negro.]
Contrast also the outline (fig. 19) of the foot of the same
Negro with that (fig. 18) of an Englishman. Both were traced upon
the ground, and reduced upon the same scale. The Negro was 5 ft.
2 in. in height; the Englishman was 6 ft.; both were of the
same age: yet the Negro’s foot was considerably the larger. It was 11
inches long, 3-1/2 inches across the middle of the instep, and 10-1/2
inches round the balls of the toes. Whereas the Englishman’s foot
was less than 10-1/2 inches long, was 2-1/2 inches across the middle
of the instep, and 9-1/2 inches round the balls of the toes. Even in
this simple outline how much less shapely is the African’s foot. Some
allowance must be made for the fact that the Negro was more accustomed
to go barefooted than the Englishman; and the pressure of the boot or
shoe has, in some degree, the effect of giving compactness to the foot.
In the native AUSTRALIAN the leg is commonly still more lanky, there
being less calf than in the African; and in the MONKEY the heel is
quite horizontal, the sole is flat, and the muscular fibres of the
leg are continued low down, close to the ankle, instead of being
concentrated higher up; so that the leg has nearly the same thickness
from the knee to the foot, and there is no calf at all. Indeed, in
the GORILLA (see fig. at page 90) the circumference of the leg
increases towards the ankle. Thus, the calf may be regarded as the
characteristic of MAN; and a well-developed calf is a characteristic of
the higher members of the human species. The pride, therefore, which
is felt in a well-formed leg is not altogether a senseless folly, but
finds some excuse in the fact that its foundation lies deep in the laws
of physiology and ethnology. It must be confessed, that the fashion
which, in the last century, dictated the knee-breeches, the silk
stocking, and the shoe, evinced a truer appreciation of the dignity and
beauty of the human figure than do the modern investments, which quite
cover up the limbs, encumbering their movements and hiding the beauty
of the leg and ankle.
In the addition of the _high heel_ to the shoe we recognise an effort
to improve upon the original, by exaggerating one of the peculiar
features of the human foot; but it results in a failure, as is
invariably the case with such strainings after a greater perfection
than nature has given. It increases the apparent height of the person
and of the arch of the instep; but it throws the weight too forward
upon the toes, and detracts from the length and security of the step.
Moreover, by causing disuse of the elevators of the heel, it interferes
with the full growth of the calf.
[Illustration: Fig. 20. Chinese.]
This is, however, a harmless piece of vanity in comparison with the
monstrous efforts of the Chinese to mould the foot to their ideal by
squeezing the heel and the toes together. They effect this to such
a degree that (fig. 20) the heel-bone descends vertically from
the ankle, the plantar arch is bent to an acute angle, and the foot
is so crumpled up that all movement in it is effectually prevented,
and the part is reduced almost to a mere stump. These observant and
ingenious people have caught, it may be, the idea that compactness,
elevation of instep, and sudden descent of heel are characteristics
of the well-formed foot, and may urge that they are helping nature
to perfection in the direction which she has herself indicated. But
in their silly attempt at the preternatural, in this impious use, as
it were, of fire stolen from heaven, they simply burn and cripple
themselves, and render themselves ridiculous, and give to all other
nations the much needed lesson that it is enough for man to follow as a
humble imitator of his Maker’s works, and that his attempts to alter,
or improve upon, any part of the wondrous design of creation will
assuredly have the effect of spoiling and defacing it[3].
[3] It is a remarkable statement by a correspondent in _The Times_,
Jan. 14th, 1861, that in the pillage of the Summer Palace of
the Emperor of Pekin “all the ladies of the Court must have had
natural-sized feet, all the slippers found in their rooms being
large; not a single cramped-footed shoe was seen.”
It seems that the several races of mankind are usually rather proud
of their peculiarities, and that each has an inclination to make much
of, and artificially exaggerate, the points in which it differs from
the others. Thus the Chinese are remarkable for the spareness of their
hair and the smallness of their feet; so the men shave their heads,
leaving only the pig-tail, and the women squeeze up their feet in the
remorseless manner we have seen. The Singhalese, who are flat-footed,
are said to consider it one of the requisites for a ‘belle’ that the
soles of her feet should not have any hollow. The red Indians of
America delight in staining and painting their skins of a lively red
colour. The Columbian tribe of Indians increase the natural lowness of
their forehead by flattening it out in infancy, and succeed in bringing
about a deformation of the skull almost as remarkable in its way as is
the effect of Chinese cramping upon the foot. These people also take
pains to reduce the small quantity of hair upon their eyebrows, lips,
and chin, by plucking it out.
_Joints of the Metatarsus with the Tarsus._
[Illustration:
Figs. 25 24. 23. 22. 21.]
I will briefly draw your attention to one other point in the anatomy
of the foot; and that is, the mode in which the “metatarsal” bones
are jointed with the “tarsal.” If you take hold of the ends of the
metatarsal bones--in other words the “balls”--of the great toe and of
the two toes next to it, in your own foot, you will find that you can
move them scarcely at all; they are firmly set upon the rest of the
foot, almost as though they formed one piece with it. If you then try
the end of the metatarsal bone of the fourth toe you will be able to
move it a little upwards and downwards; and in the case of the little
toe the movement is still more distinct. This difference depends upon
the mode of construction of the joints of the metatarsal bones with
the tarsal, which is easily understood by the aid of the accompanying
drawings, representing sections, from above downwards, through these
joints. In 21, 22, and 23, which are the tarso-metatarsal joints of
the great toe and the two next it, the opposed surfaces of the bones
between _c_, _c_, are quite flat, so that the only movement that can
take place is a slight sliding of one bone upon the other, just enough
to assist in breaking the jar, but not enough to interfere with the
firm basis of support which these toes are required to afford to the
plantar arch in consequence of the great stress of the weight in
walking being borne upon this side of the foot. In No. 24, which is the
joint of the ring toe, and still more in No. 25, which is the joint
of the little toe, the end of the metatarsal bone (A) is rounded and
is received into a corresponding concavity or cup in the tarsal bone
(B). This allows a slight revolving of one bone upon the other to take
place, and permits the movement which you discover when you grasp the
balls of these two toes between your fingers. The outer part of the
foot needs not to be so strong and firm as the inner part, because it
does not lie so nearly in the plane of gravity during walking; and the
provision just described, which permits some movement in the outer
two metatarsals, enables the balls of the toes to adapt themselves to
inequalities on the ground, and to share more equally, under various
circumstances, the weight which is thrown upon them.
_Standing and Stooping._
[Illustration: Figs. 26. Standing.
27. Bowing.
28. Stooping.
29. Squatting.]