Lasts, particularly boot lasts, are at fault in this respect generally. Those upon which shoes and slippers are made are so shaped _as to force the shoe to set tightly at the heel and ankle_. The principle upon which they are formed is well known, and is a correct one. It is difficult to see why it should not be carried further in its application, and govern the making of lasts for _boots and gaiters_ as well as of those intended for _low shoes_. The necessity is the same in both these styles; there is only a _difference in degree_, which is greater in the _low shoe_ and _slipper_ than in the _high gaiter_ and _boot_. The tightness at the ankle which prevents slipping, is supplied, more or less perfectly, in side spring gaiters, and those that are _laced_. Lacing compels the boot to fit closely, whether it does so easily or not. In men’s boots, where there is no lacing this effect is produced only by having them so small about the heel and ankle that the foot can hardly move at all after it is crowded inside. This may, or may not, be too tight for comfort, but it is doubtful if there is need of its being so for the sake of having a well-fitting boot. The fit can be produced in the same way as in the slipper or shoe, and the demand for doing it is the same, _only not to the same extent_. The slipper has nothing to keep it on the foot, unless strings are resorted to, _except the tightness lengthwise caused by the peculiarity of the last_. A boot, by covering the instep is held more securely, yet it often slips at the heel, and is all the more likely to do so when the foot is well arched.