There is certainly a love of symmetry in the human mind; but art is not required to make the feet symmetrical. One foot is the complement of the other, and the two taken together, when placed side by side, make a sort of dome of which the two great toes, which should be parallel to one another, form the apex. The boots then should be made to the natural shape of the foot, and square toes, though not so objectionable from a health point of view, are equally bad, artistically speaking, as the pointed ones. Plenty of room should be given in the leather above the great toe, for, as Mr. Ellis remarks, "It is obvious that where a flexible material is fixed on both sides and left loose between, it can be drawn furthest from the surface to which it is attached in a line midway between the fixed parts. For this reason the highest part of the foot, which is in the inner side, will have a tendency to go to the middle line of the foot where most room can be made." The high ridge of the last, and consequently of the boot, should then be made on the inner margin, and if the line of the seam or laces of the boot be carried along this ridge the unpleasant effect of an inverted appearance of the foot, which a straight line would give in such a position, is avoided. Toe-caps should not be used as they give most room in the middle line. The great toe is so commonly and so easily diverted outwards that socks and stockings should be made with a straight inner line and otherwise to fit the foot. In considerable distortion a separate stall can be made for
