A System of Physical Education, Theoretical and Practical (extract)

SEOT. II.] WALKING . 165 of a single solid bone, capped with the most powerful tendon in the body, and with a cutaneous covering many times thicker than is to be found on any other part of the body, the whole presenting a smooth and rounded urface, firm but elastic, yjelding to strong pressure, but instantly recovering its rounded form on the pressure being removed. Immediately in front of the heel springs the arch of the instep, over which the burden of the body is transferred to the front of the foot. · Here the structure changes entirely to meet the change in the duty to be performed j there is no shock to be encountered, so the strong single bone of the heel, overlaid with firm muscle ~nd thick cuticle, gives place to a different mode of construction,-to many hones of different sizes, also protected with muscles and ligaments and cuticle, but softer and more sensitive, spread upon a broader surface, and with many pro- minences and indentations to take advantage of every inequality of ground: for the requirement here, on the poise of the body, is stability rather than strength; and to complete this security the whole line of the front edge of the foot is divided into five separate parts (toes) of different l~ngths, dimensions, and degrees of strength, allowing each separate part, while acting in concert with all the others, to take its individual grasp of the ground according to th nature of the surface on which it rests. This terminating act in the compound movement composing the step is so important that