Hi, Jem

More of your magic, please ...

Have a look to see if there's any correlation between the length of
one's toes and the personality or ability of their owner.

Sorry, but shoe size will not be an acceptable answer.

Also, sorry to distract you from your gardening.

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Request for Question Clarification by jem-ga on 23 Aug 2003 01:16 PDT

Good morning Bryan :)

Talk about keeping me on my toes!!!  

:) jem-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by jem-ga on 23 Aug 2003 02:02 PDT

Just keeping you up to date.....am finding out a lot about chickens
and horses but nothing so far about length of one's toes and the
personality or ability of their owner.

Having said that, am happy to anthropomorphise and suggest that
chickens with long middle toes are considered rather sexy by the
opposite sex and horses with long toes are considered as particularly
fleet of foot as well as artistic.

And hey, you can tell the difference between a Grizzly Bear and a
Black Bear by the length (and spacing) of their toes. Although why
anyone would want to hang around long enough to take those
measurements escapes me!

;) jem-ga

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Clarification of Question by probonopublico-ga on 23 Aug 2003 02:51 PDT

Good Morning, Jem

Great to know that you are up so early .... Or have you not yet gone to bed?

In any event, it's great to see that you are on the case already.

All the Best (except George)

Bryan

Hello Again Bryan :)

The diversity of information found on the internet never fails to
amaze me and I think that the answer that I've prepared for you will
certainly bear witness to this fact.

I wasn't really sure if there was a specific direction you wanted me
to follow (e.g. anecdotal evidence, scientific evidence, etc.) so what
I've done is to compile a brief smorgasbord of the types of references
that I found.  You'll see from the search strategy below that I jumped
in "feet first" on this one!

1. Aesthetic Reference

"Any astute student of Greek or Roman art will tell you that long toes
or longer second toes were definitely a plus in the eyes of the early
masters; toe length had a distinct correlation with beauty and
elegance."

See: "Why Long Toes" at http://www.geocities.com/twinthrop/long.html

2. Holistic Reference

A. Natural Healing

Imre Somogyi, a practitioner of natural healing, believes that "toes
are mirrors and that the shape and position of your toes show who you
are".  See the Amazon listing and description of his book at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0852073100/ref=sr_aps_books_1_1/202-4799892-7018255

and a further review of his book and the theory behind it at:

http://i4beauty.co.uk/personal/holisticcentre/tips/thislittlepiggy/thislittlepiggy.html

A reviewer of Somogyi's book states that "the basic guide to reading
toes in his book enables you to get insight in your own character and
behaviour..."

See: http://enotalone.com/books/ASIN/0852073100.html

If you're really interested, information on one of Somogyi's upcoming
workshops (where you can learn "the toe alphabet" amongst other
things) can be found at:

http://newyorkstatereflexology.org/events.html

B. Reflexology

The British Reflexology Association describes reflexology as "a form
of 'alternative' or 'complementary' medicine and involves a method of
treatment using massage to reflex areas found in the feet and the
hands."

See "What Is Reflexology" at: http://www.britreflex.co.uk/

The International Academy of Advanced Reflexology also provides an
"Introduction to Reflexology" found at:

http://www.reflexology.net/about.htm

and a good guide to the history of reflexology can be found at:

http://members.tripod.com/~medicinedreams/reflex.html

I've given you the background basics on reflexology because
reflexologist Chris Stormer has written a book which is listed as "a
guide to reading a person's past and present life from their feet" -
see the Amazon listing of his book at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0340643455/ref=sr_aps_books_1_1/202-4799892-7018255

Amazon's list of top reflexology books can be found at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/sim-explorer/explore-items/-/0340643455/0/ref=pd_simmore_dp_1/202-4799892-7018255

3. Esoteric Reference

Podomancy (a relative of palmistry) posits that the shape and
appearance of the feet and toes can reveal an individual's
personality, strengths and weaknesses.  See "Serena's Guide to
Divination" at:

http://www.serenapowers.com/podomancy.html

This webpage also has a fairly extensive menu ascribing certain
meanings and character traits to various toes (you need to scroll down
the page a bit).

Some examples from the site:

"...if you have a very large big toe, you tend to be a big talker but
not everything you say is based on reality."

"A long second toe shows you have great vision but can be
self-opinionated and like to be seen to be in charge. But your gift
lies with being able to instill confidence in others."

There is also information on the practice of Indian Foot Reading on
this site (for example, an average-sized big toe denotes a generous
and dependable person).

4. Scientific Reference

Re: specific sporting abilities, author Peter Weiss writes that:

"On most people's feet the second toe is longer. But, if your big--or
first--toe extends further, you possess a natural advantage in skiing,
sprinting, and certain other sports. Having a longer big toe, you can
more readily lean your full body weight onto it. In skiing, planting
the big toe is a must for cutting an edge. Sprinters also need a
firmly grounded big toe to accelerate quickly."

See: http://www.exploratorium.edu/sports/remarkable_feets/index.html

**NB I've quoted this particular reference as a scientific reference
mainly because of its location within Exploratorium's website (i.e. it
is located within Exploratorium's subsite titled "Sport!Science"). 
There is no specific reference to any scientific studies per se in the
article but it is presented as written by a sports science authority.

Hopefully toeing the line in respect of this answer
jem-ga :)

Search Strategy:

Keywords: toe length + personality + ability

://www.google.com/search?q=toe+length+%2B+personality+%2B+ability&btnG=Google+Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Keywords: elegance + toes

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=elegance+%2B+toes&btnG=Google+Search

Keywords: toes and personality

://www.google.com/search?q=toes+and+personality&btnG=Google+Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Keywords: reflexology

://www.google.com/search?q=reflexology&btnG=Google+Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Keywords: toe length in science

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=toe+length+in+science&btnG=Google+Search

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Request for Answer Clarification by probonopublico-ga on 23 Aug 2003 07:52 PDT

Not a Request; Just a Big Thank You.

I will read later at my leisure & then the judges will retire to
consider their verdict.

Now, will you please do some gardening?

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Clarification of Answer by jem-ga on 23 Aug 2003 10:56 PDT

Hi Bryan :)

Many thanks for providing such a stellar character reference (and for
the tip!).
Place on highest pedestal resumed with appropriate fanfare and party
favours. More gardening to take place over the Bank Holiday.

Plants looking forward to what looks like a good burst of rain. 
Cricket fans at Leeds looking forward to a good burst of rain (so they
have an excuse to escape an amazingly uninspiring game of cricket).

Have a great Bank Holiday weekend
:) jem-ga

Silence in Court.

Will the Researcher known as 'Jem', rise to hear the Judges' verdict.

Jem, it grieves all of us to sentence you to ten years' hard labour
for the wilful neglect of your garden on this beautiful day.

However, you have more than redeemed yourself by your skilful research
work on behalf of Mr PB, whom you called as a character witness.

You are therefore free to resume your place on the highest pedestal
that you can find.

The Judges