Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-09-04
WING FEATHERS.
How They Move While the Wing ia Sta
tiOnEry.
From the P1tladeiDhia Ledger.

Mr.. Muybridge, who is photographing
the motions Of birds and beasts in the To-
illogical Garden by his instantaneous"
system, says that in his experiments dur
ing the latter part Of last week he demon
strated to his entire satisfaction that pig
cons, eagles, and other birds in soaring
give Individual movements TO the wing
feathers, while the wings, as a whole,
may not appear to be tapping. 'Some
years ago. says Mr.. MuybrIdge, my at
tention was drawn to this subject Of wing
feather movements in q fofcib'e manner.
! started Nv an eagle on a mountain peak
along the Yosemite valley. A. the outset
II made numerous flaps with its wings,
but IN flying across a valley to another
peak it Went for a distance of over q
mile with but one flap Of the wings. | was
convinced that individual feather move
ments upheld and propelled the bird,
and can prove by the negative plates Of
the eagle whose flight we photographed
last Thursday that my conclusion was
correct"
Although he has not vet made his cal
culations upon the ~chrOnOgraph records
OF the eagles flight, Mr.. MuYbridge says
he thinks that twelve consecutive and
different exposures OF the bird were made
In about half n second. Two series, of
twelve cameras each, were operated sim
ultaneously, and this operation was re-
peated four or five times. The eagle
made about two 'round" flaps in half a
second.
Mr.. Muybridge showed the plates of
twelve different exposures of one flight of
the eagle, The length Of the picture of
the bird, from the bill to the end Of the
tail, was about half an inch. Mr.. Muy-
bridge SAID that the smaller the negatives
the more rapidly they can be taken. Dry
plates are used. For use in the work that
Mr. Muybridge proposes to publish mega
tives Of this size are 70 be enlarged into
pOsitives two inches long.
Mr. Muybridge pointed out that in the
first negative, wherein the wings were
preparing to rise, the feathers were spread
out like a fan and separated. In that and
the next negative he showed that the
feathers turned in such a way as to meet
with the least possible resistance. He
then pointed TO the feathers in the lee
tlyes r presenting the bird where the
wings, after making the upward move
ment, began to descend. At those points
the feathers were turned so as to met
with the greatest possible resistance, and
were at an angle that enabled the bird
to move upward and forward at the same
time.
Mr.. Muybridge showed negatives of
pigeons and pointed out that their wing
feathers moved like those Of the eagle
during the ascent and descent OF the
wings. In the pictures of the eagle the
wing feathers were more widely separated
than in the pictures Of any of the other
birds that were photographed. The quilts
and other parts of the larger feathers
were outlined With particular distinct
ness in the pictures ofthe eagle. Mr.. MuY-
bridge says that while the results Of the
work done by him at the ''ZOO' last week
might to most people examining the PIC
lures appear to be all that could be Gesir-
ed, yet he is not perfectly satisfied with
any of il, and will continue this week to
photograph birds that flew before his ca
mera last week. In order to give salts
factory exposures. he says, it il ueCessa-
Ty hat the birds should ny straight across
the background. 1t was difficult to cause
them to do this, especially in the case of
the wild birds. Mr.. Muvbridge proposes
TO experiment tor another week, il neces-
sary, with birds alone, and when he has
made satisfactory pictures Of them he will
begin with the q~uadrupeds. He says 1t
will be "A labor Of months TO figure out the
curvatures OF the bodies and wings Of the
birds, and the extent o ftte movements of
the wings feathers, A BIRDS wing, like
a horses hind foot. makes a double curY-
ature. a horses hind foot makes a curve
to advance. and at the same time curves
around the ~fOrefoot before the latterleaves
the ground. A birds wing, Mir. My
bridge SAYS, makes d corresponding
double curvature, which he proposes
to describe after he has finished his study
OF the plates and the c~hrOnOgraph rec
Ords.