[1] It is also true that many artists have been led to a mistake by observation of the adult foot, which has been more or less deformed by its coverings. In many works of art there is a larger joint than natural, and the great toe is turned aside sufficiently to bring all the toes close together, though not enough to be a positive distortion. CHAPTER III. Distortion of the Toes and Joint—Various Causes—Want of Harmony between Shape of Foot and Shape of Shoe—Grown-in Nails—Influence of Stockings, Narrow-Toed Soles, High Heels, and Changing of Shoes—Faults of Lasts. The doctrine concerning the shape and position of the toes is considered to be made sufficiently clear by what has been already advanced. As the best illustration of it, we copy from Dr. Meyer’s book a cut of the natural, healthy foot of a child (Fig. 8), in which the line of the great toe, continued backward, passes under the middle of the heel. By the side of this is placed a shoe-sole of the common form (Fig. 9), and which plainly does not harmonize with the shape of the foot. From the ball forward instead of being straight on the inside line, it slants off obliquely toward the middle of the toe, making as great an inclination or curve on that side as on the outside. As the toes of the foot cannot force the upper of a boot over the sole to any great extent, the form of the sole determines the shape in which the toes shall lie when they are inside the boot. The line _c d_, in the diagram, shows where the great toe ought to be; but, far from being there, it is turned aside into the line _c e_, a position entirely unnatural. We will here quote again from the book, taking the liberty to italicize: [Illustration: FIG. 8.] [Illustration: FIG. 9.] “It is quite clear that the foot must get into the shoe; and if the shoe differs in shape from the foot, it is no less plain that the foot, being the more pliable, must necessarily adapt itself to the shape of the shoe. If, then, fashion prescribes an _arbitrary_ form of shoe, she goes far beyond her province, and in reality arrogates to herself the right of determining the shape of the foot. “But the foot is a part of the body, and must not be changed by fashion; for our body is a gift, and its several parts are beautifully adapted to the purposes for which they were intended. “If, therefore, we in any way change its normal form, _not only do we not improve, but we actually disfigure it_.