New Physiognomy : or signs of character, as manifested through temperament and external forms, and especially in the "the human face divine." . THE FOOT. The human foot, though not enjoying so exalted a positionas the hand, is still well worthy of our attention in connectiontherewith. It furnishes the firm but elastic basis on whichthe whole grand superstructure of the body securely rests, andpresents a structure as wonderful and an adaptation as com-plete as any other member, as a brief description of its anat-omy will demonstrate. BONES OF THE FOOT. There are twenty-six bones in the foot. Th
New Physiognomy : or signs of character, as manifested through temperament and external forms, and especially in the "the human face divine." . THE FOOT. The human foot, though not enjoying so exalted a positionas the hand, is still well worthy of our attention in connectiontherewith. It furnishes the firm but elastic basis on whichthe whole grand superstructure of the body securely rests, andpresents a structure as wonderful and an adaptation as com-plete as any other member, as a brief description of its anat-omy will demonstrate. BONES OF THE FOOT. There are twenty-six bones in the foot. The hinder seven—called tarsal bones—are short and thick; they form the hinder part of the instep. Infront of them lie five meta-tarsal bones, one passing for-ward from the fore part ofthe tarsus to each toe. Be-hind, these are close together,and are connected with thetarsus. As they run forward 399.—Bones of the FooTo ^.^^ n* ^i.^^ v they diverge a little irom one; and their anterior ends rest upon the ground, andform the balls of the toes. They constitute the fore part ofthe instep. The remaining fourteen bones are the toes. They. 306 HANDS AND FEET. are arranged in rows, like soldiers in a phalanx, three feetdeep, and are hence called phalanges. You observe that, although each of the other toes hasthree bones, the great toe has only two. In this respect,therefore, it is an imperfect, or, rather, an incomplete deficiency does not depend upon a want of length in thegreat toe, for this is usually as long as the second toe; in somepersons it is a good deal longer, and it is always distinctlylonger than the outer toes. The reason for their being onlytwo phalanges instead of three, probably is because the greattoe is required to be stronger than any of the others, and anadditional bone would have tended to weaken it. Of the seven tarsal bones the uppermost (fig. 399) is calledthe astragalus^ from a supposed resemblance to a die. It isthe middle bone of the instep. A
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