[Illustration: CHINESE WOMEN'S FEET.]
An American missionary, Miss Norwood, of Swatow, recently described in a
_Times_ paragraph how the size of the foot is reduced in Chinese women.
The binding of the feet is not begun till the child has learnt to walk.
The bandages are specially manufactured, and are about two inches wide
and two yards long for the first year, five yards long for subsequent
years. The end of the strip is laid on the inside of the foot at the
instep, then carried over the toes, under the foot, and round the heel,
the toes being thus drawn toward and over the sole, while a bulge is
produced on the instep, and a deep indentation in the sole. Successive
layers of bandages are used till the strip is all used, and the end is
then sewn tightly down. The foot is so squeezed upward that, in walking,
only the ball of the great toe touches the ground. After a month the
foot is put in hot water to soak some time; then the bandage is
carefully unwound, much dead cuticle coming off with it. Frequently,
too, one or two toes may even drop off, in which case the woman feels
afterward repaid by having smaller and more delicate feet. Each time the
bandage is taken off, the foot is kneaded to make the joints more
flexible, and is then bound up again as quickly as possible with a fresh
bandage, which is drawn up more tightly. During the first year the pain
is so intense that the sufferer can do nothing, and for about two years
the foot aches continually, and is the seat of a pain which is like the
pricking of sharp needles. With continued rigorous binding the foot in
two years becomes dead and ceases to ache, and the whole leg, from the
knee downward, becomes shrunk, so as to be little more than skin and
bone. When once formed, the "golden lily," as the Chinese lady calls her
delicate little foot, can never recover its original shape. Our
illustrations show the foot both bandaged and unbandaged, and are from
photographs kindly forwarded by Mr. J. W. Bennington, R.N., who writes:
"It is an error to suppose, as many do, that it is only the Upper Ten
among the daughters of China that indulge in the luxury of 'golden
lilies,' as it is extremely common among every class, even to the very
poorest--notably the poor sewing women one sees in every Chinese city
and town, who can barely manage to hobble from house to house seeking
work. The pain endured while under the operation is so severe and
continuous that the poor girls never sleep for long periods without the
aid of strong narcotics, and then only but fitfully; and it is from this
constant suffering that the peculiar sullen or stolid look so often seen
on the woman's face is derived. The origin of this custom is involved in
mystery to the Westerns. Some say that the strong-minded among the
ladies wanted to interfere in politics, and that there is a general
liking for visiting, chattering, and gossip (and China women _can_
chatter and gossip), both and all of which inclinations their lords
desired, and desire, to stop by crippling them."
* * * * *
To the alteration and metamorphism of rocks by the infiltration of rain
and other meteoric waters, M. De Koninck, of the Belgian Academy of
Sciences, assigns the cause of many hitherto unexplained phenomena in
geology.
* * * * *