[Anthropological aspects of the foot]

The adoption of an erect posture was an important step in human evolution for its consequent redimensioning of organisms and functions, in addition to its strictly evolutionary results. Formation of the sole to provide three-point support and better support of the front of the body--this being now deprived of direct support and thus compelled to rest on low-set, rear supports--was accompanied by the release and upward shift of the front limbs for use in tasks, such as gripping and carrying, formerly performed by the jaws; the latter, moreover, regressed so as to cause a variation in favour of the neural as opposed to the facial cranium and an increase in brain capacity, available nerve circuits, and so-called "higher faculties". Intelligence, in the classic sense of "Umschaltungsfähigkeit" is included among the latter. The present study sets a more rational background for flat feet and talipes equinus. These ase seen as signs of a single process, flat feet being a form of extreme hypo-evolution in three orthopaedic degrees, and equinus a manifestation of excessive development in the opposite direction. This contention is supported by comparative evidence, using data from other animal species. In man, various stages involve different races and are dependent on both habits and habitat, or indeed on the need for survival. Extensive references are made to the literature and the subject is updated and viewed as an example of "reasoned evolution".