Pegleg


A pegleg is a prosthesis, or artificial limb, fitted to the remaining stump of a human leg. Its use dates to antiquity.

History

By the late 19th century, prosthetics vendors would offer peglegs as cheaper alternatives to more intricate, lifelike artificial legs.
Even as vendors touted advantages of more complicated prostheses over simple peglegs,
according to a contemporary surgeon, many patients found a pegleg more comfortable for walking. According to medical reports, some amputees were able to adjust to the use of a pegleg so well that they could walk 10, or even 30, miles in one day.
Nowadays, wooden peglegs have been replaced by more modern materials, though some sports prostheses do have the same form.

Notable pegleg wearers