Wichita eagle., 1889-02-07
ysasSNMiIaA
Daily Eag1e
WONDERS OF SCIENCE.
Science Upsetting the Theories Of
Observation.
Curiosities of Animals I'm 1Iotion-Instan.
taneous Photography Finds Horses In
the ARA Professor and His Queer
Zoopraxiscope.
Irish World.1

continuing still further, the application OF
those two sciences has given to US the ex-
act position of horses and other animals
when in the act of ambling pacing, run
ming, leaping or galloping. Some five
years ago an American scientist to settle
the question whether horse while trotting
was ever completely off the ground with
all his feet, instituted series of delicate
experiments by instantaneous photography,
and from this beginning has developed
wonderful amount of information in re-
gard to the attitudes of animals while in
motion, information that has taught
Rosa Bonheur that she painted horses in
unnatural and impossible attitudes, that
has made Messonier wish to paint his
pictures of horses over again, that has
placed the sculptured horses of all ages,
from the Byzantine period down to Balls
equestrian statue of Washington in the
Public Garden, in absolutely incorrect posi-
lions, and that has overturned all the
observations of horsemen who were never
out of sight of stables all their lives. And
all this in one fve-thousandth part of a
secondl The discoverer positively asserts
that it took even less time. After pro-
longed series of experiments on the Pacific
coast he took the results Of his work to Eu-
rope, where for the last two or three years
he has received the hearty cooperation of
many of the most noted art societies, such
artists as Messonier, Bonheur and Alma
Tadema, Prof. Marcy, the great French
Psychologist. The discoverer explained his
methods Of procedure in obtaining instan-
taneous pictures in order to correctly rep
resent the successive attitudes OF horse in
any given gait.
In an outdoor studio twenty-four photo
graphing cameras were placed in line at a
tense distance OF twelve inches apart.
At a distance Of twelve inches from
the center of each tense an electric
exposer was securely fixed in front
of each camera. Connecting threads,
breast high to a horse and twelve inches
apart, were stretched across track few
feet from the line of cameras. These
threads were drawn at q tension which
only required five pounds to break them,
and as the horse went over the track, break
ing every thread in succession, every
thread broken caused an electric exposal to
the camera with which it was connected of
one five-thousandth part of a second,
twenty-four negatives of his different atti-
tudes en- route were taken. These formed
the basis of the discoverers experiments,
and proved to the world that exact science
is more reliable than the accumulations of
mere human observation for no matter
how long. To aid in presenting his expert
ments the lecturer uses an instrument
which he styles the zoopraxiscope, COM
bination of a stereopticon and the zeotrope,
OF the ''wbeel of life, +" the well-known me-
chanical toy invented by a game pub
Usher, and of the surprising effects of its
shadows upon the screen no one who has not
seen them has an adequate idea. Treating
first of the walk of the horse, he has al
ways two and for varying period three
feet on the ground at once. If horse walks
very fast the time of support upon three
feet is exceedingly brief, much less than
the twinkling of an eye; but if a horse walk
very slowly, as for instance, in a funeral
procession, all four feet are occasionally on
the ground at the same instant bringing
him almost to dead stop. The successive
order of foot-fallings in the walk of
horse, as well as that of all animals, includ-
ing the elephant, which is commonly sup
posed to walk laterally, that is, one side at
a time are: Beginning with the landing
ground will be the left fore foot, followed
in order by the right hind and right fore
foot. During an ordinary walk, at the in
slant preceding the striking of the left hind
foot, the body is supported on the right
laterals, or wholly on his right side, while
the left fore foot is in the act of passing to
the front of the right fore foot. AT this
instant the two hind feet and the right fore
foot Immediately divide the weight.
The right hind foot is then raised,
and the left hind and the right
fore, its diagonal, supports the
body Of the horse. Thus it will be seen
that in walking horse is part of the time
supported ''cornerwse," part of the time
'sidewise,n part of the time on three cor
ners, and part of the time on all tours.
Having reduced the walk of horse to a
certainty, a zoopraxiscopetic view of the
motion is thrown upon the screen and
shadows of horses walk across it just as
natural as life, in no way deviating from the
actual motion of nature. The illusion, for
such ii is, is most complete and always
very much enjoyed. Now comes the inter-
esting portion of the experiment. Some
observers have held that the trot is an alb
solutely simultaneous movement of the
diagonal feet; this movement probably
never occurs. Sometimes the fore foot will
be raised before the diagonal hind foot,
sometimes afterward; butin either case the
foot raised first will strike the ground first.
For example, the trot of a horse making a
stride Of eighteen feet in length will show
that at the instant his right fore
foot strikes the ground the left hind
A1f &c IL, 49,.
point where it will presently strike
at about forty inches to the rear of the fore
foot OF course the center of gravity remains
still in the same place When both feet have
reached the ground the right hind leg is
stretched back almost to its fullest extent
with the pastern or lower Joint nearly
horizontal while the left fore leg is fexed
or bent under the body. AS the legs ap-
proach a vertical position the pasterns are
gradually lowered and act as springs TO
break the force of the conclusion until
they are bent at nearly right angles with
the legs: the left fore foot is raised at its
greatest height snd will frequently strike
the elbow while the right hind foot is but
little raised from the ground and is about
80 pass to the front of the left hind; the
pasterns gradually rise as the legs decline
backwards until the fore foot has left the
ground and the last propelling force is be-
ing exercised by the left hind foot; which
accomplished, the animal is in mid-air, just
where hosts of well-iZnown horsemen and
drivers suppose he can never be. Never
theless the camera proves it by taking the
horse In the very act of flying in the air.
SCIENTIFIC MURDER.