What are the extra two holes for on the 8-hole keyless flutes?
same as the rest of the holes…
to vent, or not to vent
Has it 
been two weeks since the last time we did this?
they are leftovers from a flute design which was originally for an 8key flute , where those 2 holes had keys, and when depressed, sound low notes c# and c. now if you got rid of the 2 holes then the end of the flute would also have to be shortened, to where the first hole is located, also known as a ‘short’ foot. some flutes retain the 2 holes, others only retain the first hole and shorten the foot alittle, and others have no holes with an even shorter foot. does it matter? probably not, has more to do with preferences.
See this thread. There were other threads too.
Many apologies, i should have searched first. 
This is a frequently asked question though the answers are many as to their relative merits. Perhaps there should be a sticky?
Casey
The bottom 2 holes are where you put your fingers to carry the flute…not unlike a bowling ball 
I was reading some flute description on eBay and it was going on and on about how wonderful the flute was and how professional it was etc. One the points was that it had 9 “holes”. Wow…really…9? Why not 10? I still have a pinky not being used. Why not 11…I’m sure I could play that one in a crouched position…lol!
My six-key flute has a total of sixteen holes, including the two vestigial holes on the foot-joint.
so few remember to count the long one 
Waiddaminnit. 8-key, here…
Eight key holes, six finger holes, 1 endcap hole, 1 embouchure hole, 1 male tuning slide hole, 1 female tuning slide hole, 1 barrel socket hole, 2 body tenon holes (1-piece body), 1 foot socket hole, and 1 foot end hole.
Oh, crap. I’ve got that keyed Eb corps de réchange, too. That’s another 14.
I think we’re getting into Unified Field Theory, here.
well 37 beats my C/Bb/A combo
2 end
1 head
6 body
2+2+24=28
You know, there’s also the truism that flute and player together truly constitute one instrument. So (counting the ones that matter 
), we can count five more: mouth, nostrils, and ears.
Counting orifices … Oh, sweet divinity, let’s not go there. 
hopefully he’s done
I seem to have hit the wall. You can relax, now.
How come no-one mentioned A-holes? 
I’m afraid someone did go there. I recall that in our last topic about 6-hole vs. 8-hole flutes I explained about the numerological significance of each number and how that pertained to flutes. Do I need to repeat myself here? No, you say. OK, I didn’t think so.
Jem does much better with humour than he does with humor…
YYMV
Not to veer back to serious discussion, but I thought I’d chime in to say that I can definitely hear/feel a difference between a long and short foot. As it happens, I have one flute for which I have both, and I strongly prefer the long foot, i.e. with the two extra holes. Even though the D sounding hole, which would be the C# plug hole had the flute its foot keys, limits the effective length of the footjoint to exactly the length of the short foot, the extra length does affect the tuning and tone of the instrument. This falls under the larger topic of venting/cross-fingering.
Rob
I like a bit of venting
I find that I do use quite a bit of hand signals
…many of which are a bit cross