A Case of Bifurcated Foot with Eleven Toes

The following case of congenital nial formation of the foot and leg derives additional interest, from its extreme rarity.It furnishes an ex- ample of the anomaly known in Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire's classification as " bifurcated hand or foot," a deformity not uncommon in the hoofed mammalia, but so rare in man that Saint-Hilaire never found mention of a single well-authenticated case.2A girl was born in Worcester on the 5th of May, 1875, healthy and apparently well formed, except in the left inferior extremity.Her left foot presents the heretofore unheard-of number of eleven toes, and in its general appearance may be compared to a double Or cloven foot.It has only one heel, but in front consists of two parts, which we may call the anterior and posterior feet.The anterior presents the great toe with lour smaller toes, naturally placed and of »orinal proportions, but is twisted down- Wards and inwards in the position of ex- tremo talipes equino-varus.Several pits Or depressions over the tarsus mark the position of interspaces between the bones, and show the extent of the inversion, which is further shown by the fact of the inner border of the foot press- ing against the heel.Continuous with the outer edge of the anterior foot, and curving beneath it, is the posterior part, looking not unlike a second foot, and furnished with six well-formed, small toes, situated erectly below the other five.The plantar surfaces of the two sets of digits face each other, and are separated by a groove, which, begin- ning between the little toe of tho anterior foot and the adjoining one of the supernumerary set, grows broader and deeper as it proceeds m- 1 Extract from a paper read before the Worcester