a covering for the foot, usually of leather.

Shoes among the Jews were made of leather, linen, rush, or wood; those of soldiers were sometimes of brass or iron. They were tied with thongs which passed under the soles of the feet. To put off their shoes was an act of veneration; it was also a sign of mourning and humiliation: to bear one's shoes, or to untie the latches of them, was considered as the meanest service.

Among the Greeks shoes of various kinds were used. Sandals were worn by women of distinction. The Lacedemonians wore red shoes. The Grecian shoes generally reached to the middle of the leg. The Romans used two kinds of shoes; the *calceus*, which covered the whole foot somewhat like our shoes, and was tied above with latches or strings; and the *solea* or slipper, which covered only the sole of the foot, and was fastened with leathern thongs. The *calceus* was always worn along with the *tega* when a person went abroad; slippers were put on during a journey and at feasts, but it was reckoned effeminate to appear in public with them. Black shoes were worn by the citizens of ordinary rank, and white ones by the women. Red shoes were sometimes worn by the ladies, and purple ones by the coxcombs of the other sex. Red shoes were put on by the chief magistrates of Rome on days of ceremony and triumphs. The shoes of senators, patricians, and their children, had a crescent upon them which served for a buckle; these were called *calcei lunati*. Slaves wore no shoes; hence they were called *cretatis* from their dusty feet. Phocion also and Cato Uticensis went without shoes. The toes of the Roman shoes were turned up in the point; hence they were called *calcei rostrati, repandi*, &c.

In the 9th and 10th centuries the greatest princes of Europe wore wooden shoes, or the upper part of leather and the sole of wood. In the reign of William Rufus, a great bear, Robert, surnamed the Horned, used shoes with long sharp points, stuffed with tow, and twisted like a ram's horn. It is said, the clergy, being highly offended, declaimed against the long-pointed shoes with great vehemence. The points, however, continued to increase till, in the reign of Richard II., they were of so enormous a length that they were tied to the knees with chains, sometimes of gold, sometimes of silver. The upper parts of these shoes in Chaucer's time were cut in imitation of a church window. The long-pointed shoes were called *crackowes*, and continued in fashion for three centuries in spite of the bulls of popes, the decrees of councils, and the declamations of the clergy. At length the parliament of England interposed by an act A.D. 1463, prohibiting the use of shoes or boots with pikes exceeding two inches in length, and prohibiting all shoemakers from making shoes or boots with longer pikes under severe penalties. But even this was not sufficient: it was necessary to denounce the dreadful sentence of excommunication against all who wore shoes or boots with points longer than two inches. The present fashion of shoes was introduced in 1633, but the buckle was not used till 1670.

In Norway they use shoes of a particular construction, consisting of two pieces, and without heels; in which the upper leather sits close to the foot, the sole being joined to it by many plait or folds.

The shoes or slippers of the Japanese, as we are informed by Professor Thunberg, are made of rice-straw woven, but sometimes for people of distinction of fine slips of ratan. The shoe consists of a sole, without upper leather or hind-piece; forwards it is crossed by a strap, of the thickness of one's finger, which is lined with linen; from the tip of the shoe to the strap a cylindrical string is carried, which passes between the great and second toe, and keeps the shoe fast on the foot. As these shoes have no hind-piece, they make a noise when people walk in them like slippers. When the Japanese travel, their shoes are furnished with three strings made of twisted straw, with which they are tied to the legs and feet, to prevent them from falling off. Some people carry one or more pairs of shoes with them on their journeys, in order to put on new, when the old ones are worn out. When it rains, or the roads are very dirty, these shoes are soon wetted through, and one continually sees a great number of worn-out shoes lying on the roads, especially near the brooks, where travelers have changed their shoes after washing their feet. Instead of these, in rainy or dirty weather they wear high wooden clogs, which underneath are hollowed out in the middle, and at top have a band across like a stirrup, and a string for the great toe; so that they can walk without soiling their feet. Some of them have their straw shoes fastened to these wooden clogs. The Japanese never enter their houses with their shoes on; but leave them in the entry, or place them on the bench near the door, and thus are always barefooted in their houses, so as not to dirty their neat mats. During the time that the Dutch live at Japan, when they are sometimes under an obligation of paying visits at the houses of the Japanese, their own rooms at the factory being likewise covered with mats of this kind, they wear, instead of the usual shoes, red, green, or black slippers, which, on entering the house, they pull off; however, they have stockings on, and shoes made of cotton stuff with buckles in them, which shoes are made at Japan and can be washed whenever they are dirty. Some have them of black satin, in order to avoid washing them.

**SHOE of an Anchor**, a small block of wood, convex on the back, and having a small hole, sufficient to contain the point of the anchor fluke, on the foreside. It is used to prevent the anchor from tearing or wounding the planks on the ship's bow, when ascending or descending; for which purpose the shoe slides up and down along the bow between the fluke of the anchor and the planks, as being pressed close to the latter by the weight of the former.

To **SHOE an Anchor**, is to cover the flukes with a broad triangular piece of plank, whose area or superficies is much larger than that of the flukes. It is intended to give the anchor a stronger and surer hold of the bottom in very soft and oozy ground.

SHOEMAKERS' MACHINE for working at in a standing posture. A machine for this purpose was invented by Mr Thomas Parker, who on the 22nd of November, 1824, attended a committee appointed by the Society of Arts, and informed them that he had made use of this apparatus for twelve months, and found it very useful. He observed that all the work of shoemaking may be done with it standing; but that in some parts thereof he found an advantage in using along with it a high stool; and that prior to the use of this machine, he never saw or heard of a similar invention; and that he found it of great service to his health.

He estimated the cost of such a machine at two guineas.

Plate CCCXCVI. fig. 1. T, a bench standing on four legs, about four feet from the ground.

V, A circular cushion affixed to the bench, in the centre of which cushion is an open space quite through the bench, through which hole a leather strap U is brought up from below. This strap holds the work and last firm upon the cushion in any position required, by means of the workman's foot placed upon the treadle W.

X, Shews the last upon the cushion, with the strap holding it firm.

Y, An implement used in closing boots.

Z, A small flat leather cushion, useful in adjusting the last and strap.

L, The shoe last shewn separate from the cushion. The round cushion is formed of a circular piece of wood, covered with leather or stuffed with wool or hair to give it some elasticity.

Another machine for the same purpose has been invented by Mr Holden of Fettleworth in Sussex, and the following account of it was presented to the Society of Arts. He observes that the sitting posture had so greatly injured his health, as to render it necessary to give up his business, and in this difficulty he invented the machine which he found to answer the purpose fully, as it enabled him to resume his work with the recovery of his health. He recommends it as the quickest way of closing all the thread work, and he adds, that he has made 1800 or 2000 pairs of shoes with the machine, and still continues to employ it. The following is a description of the machine.

Fig. 2. A, the bed for the closing block, and to lay the shoe in, whilst sewing.

B, The closing block.

C, A loose bed to lay the shoe in whilst stitching; the lower part of which is here exhibited reversed, to show how it is placed in the other bed A.

D, The hollow or upper part of the loose bed C, in which the shoe is laid while stitching.

E, A table on which the tools wanted are to be laid.

F, An iron semicircle, fixed to each end of the bed A, to allow the bed to be raised or depressed. This half circle moves in the block G.

H, Another iron semicircle, with notches, which catch upon a tooth in the centre of the block, to hold the bed in any angle required. This semicircle moves sidewise on two hooks in staples at each end of the bed.

I, the tail or stem of the bed A, moving in a cylindrical hole in the pillar, enabling the bed to be turned in any required direction, and which, with the movement F, enables the operator to place the shoe in any position necessary.

K, the pillar, formed like the pillar of a claw-table, excepting the two side legs being in a direct line, and the other leg at a right angle with them.

L, The semicircle H, shewn separately, to explain how it is connected with the staples, and how the notches are formed.

M, The tail or stem of the bed A, and the lower part of the bed N, shewn separately, to explain how the upper part of the bed is raised or depressed occasionally.

Horse-Shoe. See Farriery, No. 131.