Newspaper Page Text
Tiling
;s We All
Should Know
About Our
How to Tell if You Are Getting “Flat Footed,” and Just What to Do for This Deformity
By SAMUEL W. BOORSTEIN, M l).
Of the Montefiore Hospital and Vanderbilt Clinic, N. Y.
F LAT LOOT," properl.' speaking, means tlia.t the
arch is sunken.
u
But. this is not always ^the
case, and you cannot be sure that your feet
are not flat just because there is room to put your
lingers underneath the arches.
This very common deformity results from the leg’s
being rotated so that the fool is turned out of its nor
mal position and is therefore obliged to work at a dis
advantage. It is due mainly to undue strain of the
muscles which normally form the arch of the foot. Any
body may become deformed in this way, but persons
engaged in occupations which require long standing in
one position are peculiarly liable to be.
Since the patient stands all the time in one posture,
the muscles and ligaments on the inner side of the foot,
which keep the bones forming the arch in right position,
slowly give way, and finally the bones of the arch are
lowered and the foot becomes completely flat. Tin
muscles are unable to uphold the arch.
Flat feet may also be due to an injury or may be*
simply one indication of general bodily weakness.
One of the most common contributing causes is tin-
wearing of shoes that do not confonn to the lines of
normal feet. The foot should not be forced to lit tin
shoe. Under improper shoes must especially be put
those v ith silly higlHu-els that are so popular with our
fair sex, and the short vamp shoes which squeeze tin-
foot lengthwise and breadthwise.
Button shoe* give less siiicport than lace shoes. “Sis-
ter shoes" are especially harmful. Ill-fitting stockings
are very harmful. Tile and stone floors are also factors
in causing flat feet.
The early symptom is usually a sensation of weak
ness about the Inner side of the Coot and ankle. Some
time; tin* patient experiences a dull ache in the calf of
fite leg or knee, or hip or spine. These occur more in
women than men. The pain in such a remote region
from the foot is tile stumbling bloc# of the physician
The patient cannot he convinced that the pain in the
hip Is due to the Hat foot and not to rheumatism as sin-
had previously been told.
Hater on the patient becomes aware that she is ac
commodating her habits to her feet; that she rides
where she once walked; she'sits where she once #too<i
Her feet have lost their spring. Not infrequently tin-
early symptoms are pain and sensitiveness at the centre
of the heel. The patient may complain that she can
not buy comfortabh shoes. The reason is that the
weak foot is changed iti shape so that tha-shoe that was
comfortable in the morning compresses the foot pain
tally at night, thus, increasing discomfort from corn
and bunions. %
Actual pain is felt only when the patient begins to
alk after having rested awhile; it ceases under tem
porary rest., and it is this remittance of symptoms, to
gether with the fact that the discomfort is more marked
in damp weather, that 1 wills so often to the mistaken
diagnosis of rheumatism. The gait is slouehy; the feet
ire simply pushed by each other. Later on the range
of motion at the ankle becomes markedly restricted
and the foot gets displaced outward permanently instead
of having been so only under the weight of the body.
The patient may then have marked swelling of the
feet and spasm. The foot becomes so stiff that to cross
a rough pavement is dreaded; fen every misstep causes
discomfort. At this Stage the patient finds that* aBei
sitting or rising in tin morning she is unable to walk,
but staggers or limps for several minutes. The foot is
usuully cold and bathed in perspiration.
Flat Foot Is Due to the Leg's Being
Rotated, so That a Straight Line
Drawn from the Middle of the
Knee Cap Down the Crest of the
Shin Bone Meets the Foot on the
Great Toe or Inside It (A), Instead
of on the Second Toe or Betw-een
the Second and Third Toes (B),
as It Does in the Normal Person.
The attitude of a patient with flat
ieet is so characteristic that when
once observed the disease will be
recognized. The exaggerated turn
ing out of the feet and the slouehy
gait are marked evidences. Even
when the worn shoes of a flat-footed
patient are examined the diagnosis
can easily be made. They are usual
ly bulged inward at the arch or worn
away on the inner side of the sole.
Then one should observe the bare
feet, with particular attention paid
to the Hue of strain or leverage. A
straight line d^awn from the crest of
How We Breathe the SAME AIR Over and Over Again
I F you breathe through your nose you never
fill your lungs with entirely fresh air. No
matter where you are or what you are doing,
from one to ten per cent of the air you breathe
is air that you have breathed at least once
befof-e. Hut this holds irue only if you breathe
through your nose; If you are a mouth breather
there is little or no reinspiration.
A person remaining quiet and indoors is con
stantly rebreathing from one to two per cent of
his own expired breath. When lying in bed the
amount of air rebreathed rises to from four to
ten per cent, depending on the position in which
you lie.
Even sleeping in the open air does not insure
us a wholly pure air supply, according to Pro
fessor Thomas K. Crowder. The same influences
prevail there and produce the same relative
results that they do inside. The person who
cuddles his head between pillow and bedclothes
for the sake of warmth must inevitably re-
hreathe a larger percentage of air than others.
The old at)' which we are constantly re-inhal
ing is not'all air that has already been in our
lungs. A good deal of it is air which never went
any further than our nasal passages and
bronchial tpbes the so-called "dead-space" air.
These newly-discovered facts have an impor
tant bearing on the subject of ventilation. Since
even under the most favorable conditions we
cannot avoid drawing back into the lungs some
of the air that lias just passetj out of them, not
much importance can be attached to a slight in
crease in the amount of carbonic acid gas in the
aii- of rooms. A little deeper breathing seems
to be the only effect this can have on us.
These facts also furnish additional evidence
against the theory that efficient ventilation con
sists of the che-mSca! purity of the air,
in its freedom from “h toxic organic
substance.” Even were a poisonous pro
tein substance present in the expired ?
air -a fact no experimenter has yet been )
able to demonstrate—the human organism <
under every-day conditions is apparently well
able to adjust Itself to the reinhalation of this
hypothetic substance, since a considerable quan
tity of the expired air is always taken back iDto
the lungs.
The failure of many expensive ventilation sys
tems to confer the comfort expected from them
lias been due to neglect of such facts as those
which Hrotessor Crowder points out. The at
tempts to "renew” the air by displacing a certain
volume at regular intervals were primarily baseu
on the theory that good ventilation was due
to freedom from the chemical constituents of
expired air. We now know that this practice
did not achieve the end aimed at, because the
essential factors in good ventilation are not
freedom from carbon dioxid or from a mythical
organic poison, hut are coolness, dryness and
motion.
the shinbone from the middle of the kneecap and con
tinued over the foot should normally meet the interval
between the second and third toes or the middle of the
second toe; if the line falls over or inside of the great
toe it shows that the foot is working at a disadvantage
and is turned out.
Flat feet are a result of general debility, and it is
therefore rational that the general health should be
maintained. Build up the body by plenty of good,
nourishing food and fresh air. Secondly, flat feet are
due to a disproportion betw-een the strength of the foot
and the weight and strain to which it is subjected. In
order to remedy this difficulty one should take care not
to overlmi'den. go to speak, his feet; to give them
proper rest. When one has an occupation that compels
him to stand on his feet a great deal, it is certainly con
ceivable that ten minutes’ rest every hour by sitting
down will give a fair chance to the tired muscles to
rest. In case of a temporary disproportion gfter an ex
hausting disease it is well to rest more frequently.
When ihe muscles and ligaments are stretched and
the bones forming the arch dislodged, one cannot ex
pect to restore the arch by wearing the shoes with the
arch supporters, Even were the shoes made scientifical
ly correct, they cannot cure the foot. The shoe dealer,
being anxious to sell the shoes in large quantities, may
try to combine style with correctness and make such
shoes with high heels, narrow tips and buttoned. He
expects that because he has a little stiffened leather
inside these shoes will cure such a prolonged and
neglected condition, but this is foolishness.
Before speaking about a support to keep up the arch
we must remember; First, the aim should be to
strengthen the weak structures and not simply to give
the symptoms temporary relief; second, a rigid arch sup
porter worn for several months, while relieving the
symptoms in the majority of cases, weakens the foot
and tends to make the wearer dependent upon it; third,
the prolonged use of rigid supports is, in general, un
necessary if proper treatment is administered at the
proper time.
For strengthening the weakened muscles there is
nothing better than instructing the patient how to walk
properly and do exercises daily for fifteen minutes in
the morning and fifteen minutes in the evening. These
exercises are for strengthening the weakened struc
tures. As for walking, I have montiorled before that
flat-footed people walk with the toes turned out. The
proper way is to walk turning the toes inward in the
position commonly known as ‘‘pigeon toe.” This mode
of walking causes the inner muscles of the arch to work
at a greater advantage.
For foot gymnastics the following exercises are rec
ommended ;
1. While resting the feet on the heels
hold them parallel with the toes
turned slightly inward. Bend the toes
back and forth ten to fifteen times.
2. Keeping the feet parallel and heels
slightly off the ground all the time* walk
slowly around the room on the toes for
three to five minutes.
3. With the feet turned sfightly inward,
slowly rise on the toes and lower the
heels gradually to the ground ten to
fifteen times.
4. Keeping the feet parallel and heels
Slightly off the ground all the time, walk
slowly around the room on the toes for
three to five minutes.
5. Standing upright, with toes turned
slightly inward, lift the heels one
inch oil the ground, then raise them
“Picking up marbles with
the toes is an excellent
exercise for correcting a
tendency to flat feet.”
rapidly to two inches off tire ground, then lower them
rapidly to the original position-M. e, but one inch from
the floor. The movement must be rapid enough to jog
the body up and down—fifteen to twenty-five times.
6. Placing the feet in a position where the toes of
both feet are turned inward (pigeo toes’,, raise the
Itody on the toes to the extreme limit, the limbs being
'fully extended at the knees; then sink slowly down
resting the weight on the outer borders of the foot.
7. Using several sizes of marbles, pick them up from
the floor with your toes arid place them in a small
basin. At first only small marbles can thus be seized
but gradually larger sizes may be used. The number
of marbles picked up will also be increased during the
practice.
In many instances the simple treatment outlined is
sufficient. But if the patient is too young to follow
the exercises, or if the flat foot is too far advanced and
cannot be moved easily, other means must be resorted
to. For young children, one must raise the inner
border of sole and heel by one-quarter of an inch,
slanting to the middle of the sole where it is merged
into the sole.
For stiff feet one should use strappings for a while to
loosen the stiffened muscles, then use properly fitted
supports. The strappings are usually of adhesive
plaster, placed in such a manner as to raise the inner
side and support the arch. The supports that are or
dinarily used for flat foot and are sold in the shoe
stores do not fulfill the requirements. They qre usu
ally ill fitting and often of such length and shape as to
splint the foot and thus restrict its motions.
If a support is to be used, it should be properly made
from a plaster cast of the foot taken in the position
in which one wishes to support it. When this is re
quired, it is advisable t-o consult a physician who is
versed in this line. Every physician specializing in
orthopedics uses a certain plate which in his opinion
serves the purpose excellently, and there is no need of
mentioning the names of some of these plates or sup
porters. If the supporter is properly made, it will
restore the arch in six to twelve months, and no more
support will be necessary.
As to how a proper shoe should he constructed; The
object of the shoe is to cover and protect the foot, and
it must therefore correspond exactly to the shape of
the foot. It must be straight along the Inner border to
follow the normal line of the big toe, and it should not
be pointed at the end as most of the shoes are, for this
compresses the big toe and causes bunions; It must
have a wide outward sweep, so as to avoid compression
of the outward border of the foot.
The object of the heel is to make walking easier by
inclining the body somewhat forward. The high nar
row heel is an insecure support, which induces deform
ity by throwing more strain upon the
forefoot and pushing it forward into the
-narrowest part of the shoe.
The sole should he thick enough for
protection. It should be flat from end to
end and from side to side. The hee!
should be broad and low. The heel is
unnecessary in childhood and should not
be worn.
Although of less importance than the
shoes, socks require special attention in
the case of children, because they are
often a factor in causing deformity.
They are frequently too short and too
narrow, and made of unyielding ma
terial, so that the proper action ol' the
toes is easily strained.
It is therefore advisable that socks
should be large and of yielding ma
terial. v
The Way DUMB ANIMALS TALK P
How EUGENIC Principles Produced ONE GENIUS
W HAT are called dumb animals are
really not dumb at all. SciKnoe is
beginning to find out that they have
at their command a wide variety of distinct
vocal sounds which express their thoughts
as completely and often much more concisely
than human beings can with their elaborate
vocabularies.
Two English scientists have found that th>
hen is able to utter at least twenty-three dif
ferent notes or cries, each of which convejs
a distinct meaning. Many other sounds
which the hen continually uses have been
observed, but not yet classified or explained
This is quite remarkable, for the hen has
never been noted for its intelligence. As
domestication undoubtedly diminishes a
fowl’s alertness and resources, It seems likely
that wild birds have a much larger vocab
ulary than the barnyard varieties.
The way animals communicate ideas to
one another is quite different from our own.
Our words mostly define objective things or
actions—the “sun,” a "man,” to "eat." and so
forth. It is only by more or less lengthy and
complicated combinations of these words that
we can express our feelings.
Animals, however, express their subjective
feelings directly by their cries. ‘ Their
language is a language of the emotions and
they convey their joys aifd sorrows and fears
to one another with extraordinary rapidity
and distinctness. A human being would have
to utter a good many words to convey the
same idea of contentment which a cat gives
to other cats in a single purring note.
An animal’s cries sometimes indicate an
objective thing, but only in a secondary amt
Fresh GRAPES All the Time
I T seems likely that we shall soon
be able to have fresh grapes to
eat whenever we feel an appetite
for them. At present the season for
enjoying this healthful fruit Is limited
to the Fall and early NVintcr. but as
a result of a new method of storing
them now being tried in Holland It
can be extended over the entire year.
This method consists first In cutting
off the grapes -so that each bunch will
have a long stalk. The end of the
stalk of each separate bunch of
gripes is then inserted into the neck
of a small glass vial which is filled
with water. The vials are placed on
wooden shelves in a cold storage
chamber, where the tannperature is
kept at 3T>% degrees or just above
the freezing point.
In Amsterdam recently 900 pounds
of "Black Alicante” grapes were
stored in this way. and after three
months it was found that they had
-uffered a loss of only one per cent.
The berries were as firm and lusc ious
as the day they were taken trom the
7
V
ROLESSOR WILHELM OSTWALD, who received
one of the Nobel prizes a few years ago, points
out Sir William Ramsey, the famous English
physicist and chemist, as an ideal living example of
wliat can be accomplished by the principles on which
eugenics is based in fostering and bringing to ultimate
perfection certain mental traits.
On the male side there are seven generations of
dyers back of William Ramsey, so that he traced his
descent in the male line through seven generations of
men w-ho were efficient chemists. On the female side
there were a number of phjfkicians of unusual endow
ments. The physician of to-day has a theoretical
knowledge of chemistry, but the practitioner of earlier
days almost invariably dispensed his own medicines, so
YOU MIGHT TRY-
MAKING BETTER COFFEE.
TF a little salt is added to the coffee before pouring on the boiling
water it will greatly improve the coffee’s flavor.
CLEANING WINDOWS.
T RY rubbing the window panes and mirrors with a piece of news
paper dipped in parafin.
A USEFUL HINT.
TF the white of an egg is used in making a mustard plaster there will
be little danger of the plaster’s blistering the most sensitive skin.
In . an „ m th h f I A SPOTLESS GAS STOVE.
mgs and, with the character- > . * .. , , .
istic movements that often A 1 UA ot sllver enamel pa nit twice a year will keep your gas stove
accompany them, goto make ) Poking better, save blacking and prevent its soiling your dress,
up the language of the ani- S ~
m l world. I POTATO FOR BROWN SHOES.
A SLICE of raw potato rubbed over brown shoes, before the polish is
** applied will brighten the leather and remove stains.
CLEANING FLOWER VASES.
T Y clean the insides of flower vases, dissolve a tablespoonful of rock salt
i
not very definite way. A cat’s spitting, for
example, does not always indicate the pres
ence of a dog, for the fear and anger which
this sound expresses may be due to some
entirely different cause. The peculiar low-
note which a sentinel crow gives to warn a
flock of crows of danger has nothing in it to
indicate whether that danger is a man with
a gut) or merely a hawk.
To make up for this deficiency in] their
language, animats often combine with their
cries movements which Help to make their
meaning plainer. When a hen utters a quick
squeal and crouches immedi
ately in the grass she says /
as clearly as words could do: 1
“There is a hawjr just over- \
head.” You often hear a hen s
utter this cry, and instantly ^
her young chicks will rush in S
all directions and hide them- ^
selves motionless in the S
grass. Sometimes there may ij
be no voice or cry at all— S
the hen will simply crouch <
down—and with the same re- s
suits; the chicks hide them- ]
selves, well knowing what J>
she means. i
All the sounds animals )
make— cackling, clucking. <
crooning, purring, crowing >
and many others that have <
to be described rather than >
named—have definite mean- s
that he had to be a first-class chemist, in addition to
being a physician. Thus, a virtually ideal condition for
the operation of eugenic principles was established in
Ramsey’s ancestry.
Galton, who is the classic writer on inheritance, has
shown statistically that an efficiency, above the aver
age, but not amounting to genius, occurring in one
family through successive generations is bound sooner
or later to suddenly effloresce in one supreme genius.
Of course, if the efficiency of that family is continually
reinforced by intermarriage with similarly vigorous
blood, that is to say, with blood having the same mental
efficiency, the genius, when he finally arrives, is bound
to be a veritable colossus. Such was .William Ramsey.
As Professor Ostwald points out, Ramsey’s work is not
isolated work, not one or two or three marvellous dis
coveries, but an uninterrupted chain of brilliant addi
tions to science, any one of which would have been
sufficient to hall-mark any man as a genius.
As Mendel and de Vries have demonstrated, the char
acter of every human being is a mosaic of inherited
traits. In almost all individuals there is a continual
conflict, because file various traits inherited clash with
each other, and adolescence is reached, manhood at
tained or passed before the average infan has succeeded
in harmonizing the various tendencies that are strug
giing in him for supremacy. Versatility in efficiency is
thus to be deplored. The man who has an inordinate
love for both medicine and music, either of which re
quires the entire time and attention of an individual
who desires achievement in its realm, is really a pitiable
creature. He may take up medicine, but the hankering
for music will be difficult to subdue, and music which
to the average professional man is merely a relaxation,
will become a seriously disturbing factor in this hypo
thetical case.
William Ramsey was particularly happy in that his
mental endowments had been unified for him before his
birth. The drift towards chemical genius was in him
overwhelming, and as there was no conflict in him the
energy which other individuals are forced to expend in
harmonizing their mental traits, was free to be utilized
•in his creative lifework.
A celebrated German. Professor Rohleder, recently
went so far as to state that he believed that marriages
among close blood relatives, even sisters and brothers,
were by no means injurious to the race, and not to be
discountenanced by law, so long as neither individual
w f as abnormal or suffered from some congenital disease.
Professor Rohleder based this extraordinary belief on
the principle of eugenics, which teaches that a “double
dose" of any mental trait will produce unusual efficiency
in that particular regard. Thus, a family of unusual
musical attainments, which, however, lias produced
no genius, could, according to Professor Rohleder, delib
erately breed a genius to perpetuate the family name
by allowing first cousins, or uncle and niece, or even
brother and sister to mate.
Happily, cr unhappily, religious teaching, as well as
the law of all civilized countries, discountenances mar
riages between the nearest blood relatives, such as
brother and sister, or father and daughter. In ancient
Egypt the ruling Ptolemys practised these marriages,
as they considered none fit to marry with their princes
but princesses of the same blood. But the Romans, even
wken the decline of the Empire had begun, and morals
were decadent, refused to tolerate a marriage of this
sort.
It is gratifying to those who would not like to have
this long established custom overthrown to find a genius
like Sir William Ramsey produced from a line of descent
in which there were no marriages between close blood
relatives.
Small Chance of Bein^ Killed on a Train
R
in a half cup of vinegar. Pour this mixture into the
well for a few minutes an*i then rinse with cold water.
vases, shake
FILLING LAMPS.
A N oil lamp should be filled only within about an inch of* the top, as tiie
<’il wilt expand slightly when the wick is lighted.
iAILWAY travel in the United
States is not so dangerous to
life a> the frequent disasters
mi the New Haven and other roads
might lead us to believe. The num
ber of passengers killed annually
shrinks into insignificance by com
parison with the number who are
carried over the roads in safety.
A New York mathematician esti
mates the average length of a rail
way journey in the United States as
thirty-four miles. The record of
fatal accidents shews that on the
average 2.275.122 such journeys are
taken in safety to each one which
results in killing a passenger.
If a man were to start riding out
•these 2.275,122 safe journeys at the
rate of two per day Tor each, busi
ness day in the year, it would take
him 3.792 years to complete this
amount of railroad travel. To have
begun riding so that he would meet
his death in a railroad accident dur
ing the present year he would have
had to begin his trips more than
1,800 years before the Christian era.
As fatal railroad accidents are
fewer in England. Germany and
other countries than here, the show
ing becomes all the more favorable
to the safety of railroad travel when
the whole world is taken into con
sideration. rather than the United
States atone.
Mhy a Child with NO BRA!N Knows LESS Than a Brainless DOG
“E
The New Way of Keeping Grapes
Fresh for Months.
vines, including even those which
had fallen from the clusters while in
storage.
Graj(es treated in this way for four
or five months can afterward be ex
posed for several weeks in the ordi
nary temperature of a store or ware
house and still remain in perfect con
dition.
YEN a dog would know more than
that,” is what we frequently say in
an extravagant way of some par-
J ticnlarlv senseless action, and now science
> has proved that the remark embodies a great
deal more truth than -we realized. Observe
^ tions recently made of a child who lived four
] years without a brain have been compared
5 with the results of Professor Goltz's rem&rk-
S able study of a brainless dog. The compari
son shows that a • dog with no brain is far
better able to take care of himself than a
t human being who is similarly handicapped.
Professor Goltz removed the brain from a
full-grown dog and studied the auimal closely
for the remainder of its life. The removal of
its brain made the dog apparently blind, and
it was unable to seek its food or to recognize
its master or Companions. In all other re
spects. however, it acted quite like any nor
mal dog. It showed keen discrimination in-
its choice of food, barked in response to' an
unusual noise or light, moved about spon
taneously and alternated its periods of sleep
and wakefulness ih the usual way.
Scientists never had any lengthy oppor
tunity of observing a human being under sim
ilar conditions until in Vienna recently a
baby was born and lived four years without
a brain. Except for this lack the baby was
Copyright, 1913, by the Star Company. Great Britain Rights Reserved.
quite like other babies. Its body was well
formed, and the lower part ol its central
nervous system was a fairly normal struc
ture. It finally died of tuberculosis of the
lungs. The autopsy revealed that the space
in its skull where the brain should have been
was filled with a membranous bag containing
a watery fluid.
Quite different from the dog’s healthy and
apparently happy life without a brain, this
brainless baby’s existence was a living death.
From ifs birth it never gave one sign of
being conscious of its existence except for
the primitive act of sucking its food. It iay
continually in a motionless stupor, from
which it could be roused only by a sharp irri
tation of the flesh, and these waking periods
never lasted more than a few minutes. Like
the dog, it wks -apparently blind, but, unlike
the dog, it never showed any reaction to the
w'orid around it.
The reason why a dog should suffer the
loss of ifs brain so much less than a child is
that every point on the sensory surface of its
body is a little nervous system in itself
capable of reacting to certain sensations
without calling to its aid the brain centre.
The child, on the other hand, is helpless
without its brain, because man’s evolution ol
a higher type of nervous system has concent
trated there the controlling power of a-
thought and action.
I i
L