The military shoe : First prize in the official military competition in 1874 / by S.A. Salquin ; assisted in the technical part by the brothers Giacomo and Stefano Tirone, of Turin ; wth a preface by Division Colonel Lecomte ; tr. by H.L.B., under direction of the quartermastergeneral, U.S.A.

  • Salquin, S. A.
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The military shoe : First prize in the official military competition in 1874 / by S.A. Salquin ; assisted in the technical part by the brothers Giacomo and Stefano Tirone, of Turin ; wth a preface by Division Colonel Lecomte ; tr. by H.L.B., under direction of the quartermastergeneral, U.S.A. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    ;port is on a level with the foremost extremity of the metatarsal bones which.rest upon the ground, the iwint of resistance made hy the weight of the body, is on a level with the joint of the instep, while the force is fixed behind this joint, on the calcaueum, by the tendon Achilles, which the muscles of the calf of the leg bring into action. The toes are placed in front of the metatarsal bones, to which they are fastened by ligaments. The small toes have two joints while the great toe has only one. The great toe is j the most important of all, and is the strou^-est and largest; in walking it ful- fills the following functions: When we raise the foot from the ground to bring it forward, we raise first the heel, when i the weight of the bodj' falls upon the great toe, in raising which, in its turn, from the ground we are thrown forward, still pressing the ground with the end of the great toe. To execute this move- ment the grea toe must be ])laced in the shoe in such a manner that it can stretch itself out directly forward^ for in its nor- mal condition it is found upon the pro- longation of the longitudinal axis of the I I first metatarsus. In other words, as is i ' seen by Figs. 3 and 4, the continuation of FtgMancu 4. the axis of the great toe is upon a line which passes through the center of the heel of all feet not deformed. This demonstration is purely anatomical and scientific j we give it as we have seen it described in works upon the anatomy of the human body, to the study of which we have devoted ourselves, and it is besides clearly seen from Fig. 1 given above. Alas! will it be believed? A superior commission, in which, it is true, no surgeon took part, found that this anatomical x^rinciple was dispu- table, and that a line passing through the axis of the second toe could also correspond to the center of the heel. This assertion, little flattering to science, might be understood, strictly speaking, if the commission of which we speak had not had under their eyes Fig. 1, and consequently the means of verifying the gravity of the error which they committed. As to skeptics and scoffers in these matters, if they retain the least doubt in regard to this demonstration, we shall have no trouble in proving to them the perfect exactness of it, and will also furnish them the means of convincing themselves of it. Let us regard the foot of a new-born infant; let us lo®k upon the foot of a child who has never worn shoes; let us look at the foot of a young rustic who goes barefoot; let us examine the impress he makes in the 2547 M S 2
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