SCIENCE SIFTINGS

New Zealand Tablet, 24 February 1921, Page 46

SCIENCE SIFTINGS

(By "Volt.”)

Walking on Tiptoe: A French Doctor’s Advice. A French physician, Dr. Gautiez, believes that by walking on tip-toe one can bring into play muscles that are rarely sufficiently exercised, thus stiffening the spinal column, compel deep breathing, and improve the carriage. The Literary Digest translates an article published in a Paris paper in which Gautiez’s theory is fully set forth:—• . “Everyone, or almost everyone, walks on the heels —that is, places the heel on the ground first in walking. Curiously enough, man, or, at least civilised man (as distinguished from savage peoples, who are rich in fine muscular types), is the only one of the animals who does this. All others walk by placing the toes on the ground first. Now, when man walks as he does, it is clear that the whole weight of the body . . • . rests on the bony structure and ultimately on the heel, without the muscles having any sensible work to do. • “It is not so when man runs when he uses the ‘ gymnastic step,’ the weight of his body rests on the toes ; this weight is no longer entirely in equilibrium—no longer rests on the —and what is the result? The whole musculature is put into play to assure the stability of the body on the toes. The act of standing on the end of the foot contracts the muscles of the calf and thigh, which also causes those of the back and abdomen to contract, the whole tending to fix rigidly the position of the top of the vertebral column and of the neck. The spinal column, which in walking on the heels is free and flexible, is fixed by the muscles from the fact that the walking is done on the toes. “To employ a figure of speech, it is the same as when the antennae of the military wireless, composed, as is well known, of separate sections socketed together, become a rigid whole by reason of the tension brought to bear upon them by the guy-wires. It is this rigidity of the neck, obtained by walking on the toes, which constitutes the essential point of the system of Dr. Gautiez.

"The consequences of it may be verified at once: Breathe while holding yourself upright formally—is to say, with the body resting solidly on the heels, and you will generally find that your respiration is abdominal, the lung being raised by the contraction of the diaphragm. . .In this position, in fact, the muscles attached to the top of the spine, which ought to raise the sides, can scarcely work at all, for lack of a fixed point of attachment, the spine being flexible. Make it rigid, on the contrary, by raising yourself on your toes, and immediately (everyone can prove it for himself) the respiration becomes thoracic; the chest is dilated, and we see the tips of the lungs doing their —the portions that commonly are little used (a primary cause of tuberculosis). "But why do we advise walking on tiptoes instead of running with 'gymnastic step'? Because the latter involves fatigue of the heart and loss of breath, both of which are useless, and because many persons cannot stand it, while the walking indicated that Dr. Gautiez-is easy, no matter how old you are. "One thing should be said here. It is not to be thought that walking in high-heeled shoes is the same as walking on tiptoe. This would be true only if the heel of the right foot rested for a shorter time on the rigid support than it would do normally. This is by no means the case."