A curious custom was in vogue at the beginning of the present century for ladies to make their own indoor shoes. This fashion was inaugurated by Queen Charlotte, who was particularly deft in handling a beautiful set of shoemaker's tools, mounted in silver, with ivory handles. Tradesmen bitterly complained that worktables in boudoirs were strewn with the implements of their craft; but, like many other feminine fads, it soon passed away. About this period clogs were also used. These were made of wood, and served as a protection to shoes out of doors. A similar contrivance, with the addition of an iron ring, leather strap and toe-cap, is still sometimes worn by farm servants, and is called a patten. Another form of clog, consisting of a laced leather boot with wooden sole, is extensively used by the working classes in the North of England, and the sabot, a wooden shoe, is the ordinary foot-gear of peasants on the Continent. It is well known that Chinese women of high rank deform their feet by compressing them in such a manner that it is afterwards almost impossible to walk; and in Davis' interesting description of the Empire of China, he relates that whenever a judge of unusual integrity resigns his post, the people accompany him from his home to the gates of the city, where his boots are drawn off with great ceremony, and are afterwards preserved in the Hall of Justice. In Japan a peculiar wooden sandal, having a separate compartment for the great toe, is in common use. Straw slippers are also worn, and a traveller starting on a journey will strap a supply on his back, so that he may have new shoes in case of need. They are lefts and rights, and only cost a halfpenny the pair. Here one never finds those deformities of the feet so common in China, and even in our own country. A graceful carriage depends so much upon the shoes worn. Heavy and stiff ones oblige the wearer to plant the foot solidly at every step. If the toes are very pointed it is at the sacrifice of elasticity, and if the heels are too high the muscles in the ball of the foot are little used.