Analomical description of the foot of a chinese female

Abstract

The foot, of which an account is here given, was obtained from the dead body of a female found floating in the river at Canton, and had all the characters of deformity, consequent upon the prevailing practice of early bandaging, for the purpose of checking its natural growth. To an unpractised eye, it has more the appearance of a congenital malformation, than of being the effect of art, however long continued; and appears at first sight like a club-foot, or an unre­duced dislocation. From the heel to the great toe, the length of the foot measures only five inches; the great toe is bent abruptly back­ wards, and its extremity points directly upwards, while the phalanges of the other toes are doubled in beneath the sole of the foot, leaving scarcely any breadth across the foot, where it is naturally broadest. The heel, instead of projecting backwards, descends in a straight line from the bones of the leg, and imparts a singular appearance to the foot, as if it were kept in a state of permanent extension. From the doubling in of the toes into the sole of the foot, the external edge of the foot is formed in a great measure by the extremities of the meta­tarsal bones, and a deep cleft or hollow appears in the sole of the foot, across its whole breadth. The author gives a minute anatomical description of all these parts, pointing out the deviations from the natural conformation. He remarks that from the diminutive size of the foot, the height of the instep, the deficiency of breadth, and the density of the cellular texture of the foot, all attempts to walk with so deformed a foot, must be extremely awkward; and that in order to preserve an equilibrium in an erect position, the body must neces­sarily be bent forwards with a painful effort, and with a very consi­derable exertion of muscular power.