CHINESE FEET. The binding of the feet is not begun till the child has learned to walk and do various things. The bandages are specially manu factured, and are about two inches wide and two yards long for the first year, five yards long for subsequent years. The end of the slip is laid on the inside of the foot at the instep, then carried over the toes, under the foot, and round the heel, the toes being thus drawn towards and over the sole, while a bulge is produced on the instep and a deep indentation in the sole. The indentation, it is considered, should measure about an inch and a half from the part of the foot that rests on the ground up to the instep. Successive layers of bandages are used till the strip is all used, and the end is then sewn tightly down. The foot is so Squeezed upward, that in walking only the ball of the great toe touches the ground. Large quantities of powered alum are used to prevent ulceration and lessen the offensive odour. After a month the foot is put in hot water to soak some time ; then the bandage is carefully unwound, much dead cuticle coming off with it. Ulcers and other sores
are often formed on the foot ; frequently, too, a large piece of flesh sloughs off the sole, and one or two toes may even drop off, in which case the woman feels afterwards repaid by having smaller and more delicate feet. Each time the bandage is taken off the foot is kneaded, to make the joints more flexible, and is then bound up again as quickly as possible with a fresh bandage, which is drawn up more tightly. During the first year the pain is so intense that the sufferer can do nothing ; and for about two years the foot aches continually, and is the seat of a pain which is like the pricking of sharp needles. With continued rigorous bind ing, the foot in two years ceases to ache, and the whole leg, from the knee downward, becomes shrunk, so as to be little more than skin and bone. When once formed, the golden lily, as the Chinese lady calls her delicate little foot, can never recover its original shape.