The Russellville Democrat., 1880-06-24
THE MOTION OF ANIMALS.
Light Thrown on a LittIe-Known Subject by Instantaneous Photography.
 San Francisno Call May 5

San Francisco Call, May ,.
 A private exhibition of the zoogyro- scope was given by Mir. +. J. Muy- bridge, the photographer, at the gallery of the San Francisco Art Association last evening. Mir. Muybridge has been en- gagged buring the past two years in mak- ing photographic representations of ani- mals in motion, under the patronage of Gov. Leland Stanford, at the residence of the latter at Menlo Park. Gov. Stan ford became greatly interested in the subject and, gratified by the maiden eff forts of Muybridge in photographing the movements of his favorite trotting horse Occident, he gave him carte blanche to pursue his experiments. A number of instruments were constructed especially for the purpose in Europe and this coun- try, and at the Governors place, Palo Alta, every facility was offered for car ryiDg on his investigations, until finally, by the combination of the magic lantern and the zoogyroscope, he has arrived very nearly at perfection. It is estimated that Governor Stanford has expended between $40,000 and $50,000 in this *'hobby." At the exhibition last even- ing large number of views were given of the different gaits of horses-the walk, the canter, the pace, the trot and the run. The camera used in taking these views caught the object and transferred 1t to the glass in the eone-thousandth part of a second-a degree of time that it is difficult for the mind to comprehend Stonehenge and other writers on the horse have asserted that that quadruped in trotting, as in walking, always has two of it's feet upon the ground at time. The experiments of Muybridge show that in motion the horse frequently has three, and at times all four feet from the ground. Ithas generally, too, been held that the toe strikes the ground first. Muybridge shows that it is in cases the heel. The strides of different horses were represented; that of Elaine, which covered sixteen feet; Abe Egerton, eigh- teen feet; and Clay, seventeen feet. The latter horse, Muybridge said, had very peculiar stride. When at the top of his speed and clearing seventeen feet he was for nine feet entirely clear of the ground, all four feet being in the air for that distance. Several interesting views were given, showing the change in the position of horses limbs as he began to break, during break and as he was gradually settled by his driver. In the representation of running horses a fact was shown what had long been a mys- tery to horsemen-why running horses broke down sooner than trotting horses. It was found that the former throw the weight or their body upon the fore feet in fact, the whcle weight is, for time, thrown upon one fore foot. In leaplng it was shown that one fore foot strikes the ground first, followed by the other placed slightly in advance, and then the hind feet are brought down together closely behind. What attracted the most attention, in fact aroused pro- found flutter of enthusiasm from the au- dIence, was the representation by aid of the zoogyroscope or horses in motion. While the previous views had shown their positions at different stages of mo- ton, these placed upon the screen ap- parently the living, moving horse. Nothing was wanting but the chatter of the hoofs upon the turf and an occasion al breath of steam from the nostrils to make the spectator believe that he had besore him genuine flesh and blood steeds. Iu the views of hurdle-leaping the stimulation was still more admirable, even to the motion of the tail as the an- imal gathered for the jump, the raising of his head, all were there. Views of an OK trotting, wild bull on the charge, greyhounds and deer running and birds flying in mld-air were shown. The zoogyroscope is a circular glass, having miniature picture of the animal to be represented in motion at regular inter- vals upon it's surface and equi-distant with the pictures are small slats which admit the light from the oxyhydrogen lanterns, and as the plate is turned the effect is similar to that produced by the well-known toy, the zootrope, and shows the animals in apparent actual motion. The exhibition concluded with afine in- stantaneous photographic views of ath- letes in various positions.