This
digit is called the 'pollex,' or thumb; and, like the others, it bears a
flat nail upon the back of its terminal joint. In consequence of the
proportions and mobility of the thumb, it is what is termed
"opposable"; in other words, its extremity can, with the greatest ease,
be brought into contact with the extremities of any of the fingers; a
property upon which the possibility of our carrying into effect the
conceptions of the mind so largely depends.
The external form of the foot differs widely from that of the hand; and
yet, when closely compared, the two present some singular
resemblances. Thus the ankle corresponds in a manner with the wrist;
the sole with the palm; the toes with the fingers; the great toe with
the thumb. But the toes, or digits of the foot, are far shorter in
proportion than the digits of the hand, and are less moveable, the want
of mobility being most striking in the great toe--which, again, is very
much larger in proportion to the other toes than the thumb to the
fingers. In considering this point, however, it must not be forgotten
that the civilized great toe, confined and cramped from childhood
upwards, is seen to a great disadvantage, and that in uncivilized and
barefooted people it retains a great amount of mobility, and even some
sort of opposability.
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