The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1879-04-11
The SCIENCE OF WALKING.
PROFESSOR TRowBRIDGE GIVES SOME cuRI-
Gus AND INTERESTING FACTS.

In his lecture before the New York Acad
emy of Sciences, on Tuesday night, Prof
Trowbridge pointed his remarks with som,
curious and interesting references to ths
science Of walking, which may possibly bs
worth remembering in connection with the
event NOS in progress at Gilmore's earden
1t appears that, on the avearge, a man rails
es himself II inches at every step. Taking
this datum. with the average length Of steE
in walking at an ordinary pace, a man lifts
his own weight one foot from the ground In
ever % feet traversed, and expends an
amount of force equal to one foot-ton for
every 36S to 400 feet travelled. There are,
of course, large variations from this average
bnt the rule deducible from it Is, that the
higher man lifts himself in walking, the
greater the exertion in traversing any given
distance; so that q man raising his body
only one inch per step lifts his own weight
once every 29 feet or thereabouss, while, con-
versely, another, raising his body an inch
and a half, lifts his own weight one foot
for every 10 or 20 traversed. By ascertain
ing the mans weight, the length of bis pace
and the height to which be raises himself
at each step, it is thus possible to deter
mine, with mathematical exactness, how
many feet be will havs to walk in order to
perform work equal to one foot-ton. For
an average walker, as before stated this dis
tance varies from 1858 to 400 feet. The ex-
ertlon of walking mile therefore, may be
roughly stated as equivalent to that Of lift
ing from Is to Is tons one foot from the
ground. Now, according to physiologists,
an able-bodied man is capable of perform
ing % days work equivalent to from 800 to
400 Il ot-tons. DR.. Ranney states the aver.
age at from $50 to $50; Prof. Trowbridge
at about 400; but, in any event, walking
of 25 to 80 miles must be considered as the
equivalent Of days work in muscular ex-
ertion, and 40 miles day as more than
ordinary performance. But here comes in
another factor. Suppose man capable of
making 80 in 10 hours without extraordina-
ry exertion, to what extent can he accele-
rate his pace o 's'stent with good aggre-
gate performance protracted for many
hours. Under ordinary circumstances, were
the question proposed to an average stu
dent OF physiology, of how long the man
who make so miles in 10 hours can sustain
the apparently just double exertion IF walk
ing 10 miles an hour, the answer would be
5 hours. But such, according to DR.. Hough~
toms Law, is not by any means the case. On
the contrary, the nu uber Of hours man
can bear the ext aordinsry exertion of 10
miles an hour is to the number Of hours
that he can bear the ordinary exert:on OF
miles as the cube of 10 to the cube of 10.
In other terms, he would be able to bear the
strain only an hour and
quarter, and to walk only l24 consecutive
miles. To put the problem in . form more
likely 10 occur in ordinary life, Il man can
walk miles an hour for 10 houts without
dropping, how long can he walk at the rate
Of miles an hour? The answer science
makes to this problem is in these terms {:
AS the cube Of 8 (216) is to the cube of s,
(125), so Is ten to the pumber to be ascer-
tanned, which, upon making the calcula-
tions required, is found to be hours AZ
and 1ss seconds, or but little more
than half the original 10. OF course, in
practical life, with its constantly varying
some allowance must be made
for accidental or incidental factors but the
rule remains that man who makes extra
ordinary exertions at the outset loses in the
long run. AS to the pluck or will power of
which ordinary parlancs makes such fre-
4uens quotation, it is only another name
for broad shoulders, sound heart and
lungs, and large nervous centres of move
ment, and any competent physician can
make on these points, after very brief ex-
animation, an estimate so nearly accurate
rs between any two men of equal training
that it would be safe to wager thousands
Oh the issue of trial Of endurance.