“Weak ankles, often the result of the ungraceful, and, in other respects, pernicious fashion of wearing high, narrow-heeled shoes, straining them by their rolling about, etc., may be the exciting cause of _lateral curvature of the spine_. The weaker ankle is generally the _left_, and the individual soon forms the habit of standing on the right foot. The lower portion of the spine is thrown to the _left_, and the dorsal portion necessarily thrown to the _right_.” In another place he repeats: “We find that almost without exception, in curvature to the _right_, the _left_ ankle is much weaker than the other. Movements of the foot must be employed, such as inward and outward flexion, twisting the whole leg from the hip, and many others, calculated to strengthen the left leg, hip, and ankle.” [7] As a matter not wholly out of place, it may be said that the graceful walker stands upright, and in taking a step uses the muscles and joints of the _hip_, the _knee_, and the _toes_. Many people use the toes but very little, and their step lacks _spring_, _elasticity_, _life_, and _grace_; while others do not use the muscles in front of the hip enough, and their walk has no dignity. Instead of swinging the whole leg, they seem as though kicking their feet along ahead of them, swinging only that half of it below the knee. Stiff coverings on the feet, or very high heels under them, effectually prevent all gracefulness in walking. CHAPTER VIII. Corns, Bunions, and Callosities—How they Originate—Nature of the Skin—Various Causes of Corns—How to Remove Them—Quotations from the Medical Books—Nature and Treatment of Bunions. We come now to another class of difficulties to which the foot is subject, though they affect the outside mainly, not its structure, and which appropriately call for a notice here, and for some hints concerning their nature and treatment. Almost every one, at some period in a lifetime, forms their unpleasant acquaintance; and to know how to avoid them entirely, or to destroy and remove them at pleasure, may be considered information worth possessing. Although we lack the familiar practical knowledge of the man who makes corns his profession, the reader shall have the benefit of as much as we are able to supply. A common corn is caused by friction or irritation of the skin—the chafing and pressure of the foot against the leather of the boot, or the crowding of the toes against each other. The skin thickens and hardens to protect itself in the same way that it does upon the hands or other parts of the body exposed to rough contact, the fact and law of which are familiar to everybody. As the irritation is continued the skin continues growing harder and thicker, until a large and ugly corn is produced. To understand its nature more fully, and why it assumes a sharp point, thus turning its protection into a torture, it will be necessary to explain something more of the nature of the skin itself.