The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1882-06-23
Gle ayew alurth-at'est.
THE HORSE IN MOTION.
A New and Interesting Oiscov-
cry.
MINUTE DESCRIPTION OF A HORSES
MOTION.

Under this title n most interesting am
surprising book has just been published b,
James X. Osgood IL Co., under the auspice
of Leland Stanford. 1t shows conclusivel,
through the accompanying photographs tina
the different modes of motion of the horse ar
entirely opposed to all accepted ideas as the
are represented by men who have paintel
horses at speed. These photographs wer.
obtained from row of twenty-four cameras
placed one foot apart, each Of such sensitive
ness that the exposure of one fVe-thousandtl
part of q second was sufficient 10 produce al
impression. The horse was galloped past
them, and thus his exact position at eacl
portion Of his stride could be obtained. And
by comparing the impressions i'm their regu-
Jar order, the precise manner of his motion
Is lncontestably shown.
While people have been thinking that the
running horse raised his fore foot from the
ground, and with an impu Use of his launches
launched himself into the air, alighting on
his fore legs, and that after once more gath
ering his hind legs and placing them under
him, he repeated the operation, the animal
has been doing nothing of the sort. Instead
Of the fore feet leaving the ground before
the hind feet, the hind feet, which are still
the main instruments of propulsion, are the
first to leave the ground, the fore feet being
the last; and, again, instead of alighting af.
ter the spring on the fore feet, the horse
alights on his hind feet.
At one portion of his stride the horse is
entirely in the air, but when painters have
represented him flying along with all his
feet off the ground, they have drawn him
with bis hind legs fully extended, that is,
with his fore legs thrown out in front and
his hind legs stretched backward. Cover
nor StanfOrds cameras show that the exact
reverse of this Is the true position. At the
moment when all feet are of the ground, the
feet are all gathered together under him
and at that moment, instead Of giving one all
idea of tleetness and freedom, the position is
cramped and awkward, resembling more that
Of an animal crouched for a spring. At that
part of his stride when the horses legs are
fully extended, while people have supposed
him 10 be clear off the ground, as q matter
OF fact one Of his hind feet touches and also
one of his fore feet. These seemingly Gu
rious positions can best be compared TO those
g. taken by boy with jumping pole, letting
the pole represent the fore legs aud The boys
legs the horses hind legs. To jump
with tue pole, the boy plants IL in front Of
him as far as he can reach, and then exerts
the muscles of his legs to throw bis body
forward. His feet leave the ground, and his
center Of gravity, supported by the pole, is
finally carried so far beyond the spot where
tue pole touches the ground that the pole has
to be taken of the ground, and the boy
alights on his feet, again stretches the pole
forward, and again springs with his legs.
This isthe way horse eallops. Roughly
. speaking, the horse, with hind feet on the
ground, stretches bis fore feet out ia front of
him as far as he can and plants them on the
ground. II must be clearly understood that
the fore feet are thus placed on the ground
before the hind feet are taken of. Then,
giving a shove with his launches, his hind
feet leave the ground, aud by the impetus
thus impaired his body, supported by his
fore feet, Is carried forward. When the
body, still going forward with the impetus
impaired by the hind legs, reaches point so
far beyond where the fore legs are planted
that they can no longer sustain 1t, the fore
legs come of the ground, and, being by this
time behind the shoulder, are fexed under
the belly, and the horse is free In the air.
The momentum Of his body carries him on
until the force Of gravity brings him back 20
earth, and by this time the hind legs, which
from the moment they last left the ground
began to gather and approach the fsre legs, |
have been brought under HIM, and being |
placed on the ground, they support the |
weight Of the falling body. Now we have |
the horse poised on his hind legs, like the |
boy after Slighting on the ground and then, |
again stretching Lis fore legs forward as the |
boy does the pole, he places them on the |
ground aud again springs with his launches.
The exact motions Of the four legs rela-
tiyely TO each other are shown by the follow
ing reproductions of drawings, after the i'm
pressions on the cameras. The horse 10 sup
posed to be galloping, with his near leg-that
Is, with his near fore leg-thrown forward IN
his stride beyond the off leg. TIL near leg
Is placed Oh the ground in front Of the off
leg, and also the near hind leg is placed on
the ground In advance of the Off hind leg.
In Fig. we have The horse standing ready
10 start.