tinually pressed and palsied by this improper case work. Nature has designed the toes to be as moveable as the fingers. Examine the feet of a peasant's child who has never worn shoes. Instead of the toes being crooked or bent inwards to a point, they are straight as their fingers, and the inner side of the foot forms nearly a straight line from the heel to the tip of the first toe. Those unfortunate beings, who are born without hands, learn to perform with the toes the most astonishing tasks, to write and cut pens, to sew, to draw; in short, to supply almost completely the want of their hands. Our feet would be more comfortable, easy, and useful, if we were not at the greatest pains to deprive them of their elasticity and vigour. The numerous nerves crossing them, in every direction, plainly evince that nature has endowed them with peculiar powers, of which we can scarcely form an adequate conception. Why are mankind determined to convert the natural shape of the foot into a geometrical figure? or why do they not take it into their heads to new-model some other part of the body, which may happen to be irregular in it's form? He who is regardless of the pain and trouble occasioned by warts, excrescences, and callosities of various forms; he who wishes to convert his feet and toes into so many barometers, to indicate the present state, and to foretel the future changes of the weather, will ever agree with his shoemaker, to save as much leather as possible; and he is scarcely to be pitied for his imprudence. But such a person cannot pretend to walk, and if he be unable to provide a horse or a carriage for his excursions, he must submit to abridge himself of many pleasures; and such cessations from exercise are undoubtedly

པརམསཆོས

extremely detrimental to health in general, and they may be registered among the pre-disposing causes of the gout, rheumatism, and dropsy. Many people. are thus almost deprived of the use of their legs; and the pain of the more virulent species of corns, as well as of the nails, when grown into the flesh, is excruciating. For these obvious reasons the sole of the shoes ought to be sufficiently broad, and easy; in short, they should be made to the natural form of the foot. It is astonishing that mankind, almost with one consent, should determine to become the vassals of fashion. Not long since they deemed the foot handsome when it was compressed by an instrument into a shoe a full inch shorter than is necessary for a free use of the foot; at present, the foot is deemed handsome by being reduced to a narrow and long pointed shape. Instead of bending the toes with their nails inward, they must now be squeezed together so as to lie one over the other.

We can scarcely regret that such folly is sometimes rebuked on striking the foot against a stone, if reflections on the evil be induced; but not even punishment can rouse some people to a sense of outrages against common sense and nature. A shoe ought to be made sufficiently long, with thick soles, and the upper-leather soft and pliable. If shoes be deficient in any of these requisites, the skin will be rendered callous; the perspiration indispensable to those parts will be stopped; warts and corns will appear in numbers; the nails will grow into the flesh, and various complicated maladies be produced, which not only affect the feet, but the whole body.

Shoes

should have low heels; and have the true shape of the foot, which at the toes is broad, the heel small, and

the length of the inside is greater than the outside. They should be made from two lasts, as the shape of the feet indicate. The following figures demonstrate the propriety and necessity of a reformation in the shape of shoes. Fig. 1, is the shape of the sole of a foot not compressed or deformed by small shoes. Fig. 2, shews how the sole of the shoe ought to be formed. Fig. 3, shews clearly that the shoes usually worn, made on one last, do not fit.

Each foot may be placed upon a piece of paper, and it's exact outline drawn with a pencil, after which the lasts may be made, attending carefully to the shape of the different parts of the foot. In taking the size of the sole from the foot, it will be necessary to allow sufficient room for the toes, which are constantly pushed forward in walking, by the bending of the foot. By wearing this kind of naturally shaped shoes, a person will be able to walk with perfect ease, and, of course, a longer time; and corns will be effectually cured or prevented. With respect to the

substance of which shoes should be made, no other general rule can be given, than that it ought to be sufficiently compact, to prevent the water from penetrating; so elastic and soft, as to admit an easy motion of the whole foot; and adapted to the weather, exercise, and soil in which it is to be used. To those who have not the means or opportunity of procuring the patent water-proof leather, the following method of preparing this species of leather may be adopted at a very trifling expense. One pint of drying oil, two ounces of yellow wax, two ounces of spirit of turpentine, and one ounce of burgundy-pitch, are to be carefully melted together, over a slow fire. Those to whom the smell of pitch and turpentine is unpleasant, may add a few drachms of some cheap essential oil, as of lavender, thyme, and the like. With this composition new shoes or boots are to be rubbed, either in the sun, or at some distance from a fire, with a sponge or soft brush: this operation is to be repeated as often as they become dry again, until they be fully saturated. In this manner, the leather at length becomes impervious to wet; the shoes or boots thus prepared last much longer than they otherwise would, acquire such softness and pliability, that they never shrivel or grow hard and inflexible, and thus prepared, are the most effectual preservatives against cold and chilblains.

Advantages to be derived from wearing always one Kind of Covering.

Bears and foxes, which inhabit cold climates, can maintain the natural temperature in all seasons, and be in health and vigour, with one and the same covering; why may not man maintain his natural tem

perature and remain in health and vigour, with one and the same covering also? There is no season or climate, however warm, in which bears, foxes, and many other animals are not covered with some hair; and it often falls off even in the coldest seasons and climates. It seems natural that the old hair should fall off to make room for new; that the hair should be regenerated as well as the other parts of the body. And the hair being thicker in cold than in warm climates and in cold than in temperate seasons, does not prove than it is unnecessary in warm climates; and much less that any thing better might be supplied. The utmost it proves is that less might suffice. The more obvious advantages to be derived from wearing always one kind of covering may be easily understood from the following considerations. Uneasiness, itching, and pain, most commonly attend the change of one kind of covering for another, even when there is no suspicion of dampness. A skin used to the feel of fine linen cannot bear that of coarse. The brother of Louis XIV, who was secluded from society in the Bastile of Paris is reported to have worn very fine linen, because coarse linen made him uneasy. [Mem. du Marchal Duc du Richlieu, &c.] Ann of Austria was under a similar necessity of wearing fine linen. A skin used to the feel of linen cannot bear, with equal pleasure, the feel of cotton. And flannel, which seems in it's effects most like the hairy covering of animals, is regarded with a degree of antipathy by those who have long accustomed their skin to linen or cotton. Sir Benjamin Thompson says, there is no luxury greater than that of wearing flannel, when one is used to it. [Phil. Trans. v. 77. p. ii. 240.] To change