132 



MOVEMENT 



time was markedly diminished. These experiments, 

 which for the most part were carried out on marching 

 troops, have been repeated on a large number of men 

 of various sizes, both with and without burdens, and 

 in the case of veterans as well as in the case of recruits. 

 The influence of various inclines on the length of 



^0 <*5 50 55 60 65 7^ 75 



Fig. 90.— Curves to show the rate and length of the stride. 



85 90S.eps 

 r minute 



stride was also investigated,* as, too, was the shape of 

 the shoe both with respect to the length of the sole 

 and the height of the heel.f 



All these experiments on running and walking were 

 carried out on men, some of whom carried weights, while 

 others were unburdened. Exact results have been 



* Experiments on different kinds of tracks were made elsewhere 

 than at the Physiological Station by a slightly different method. A 

 track of known length, an automatic counter of the number of steps, 

 and a watch with a second's hand furnished the necessary appliances 



t The length of a step does not entirely depend on the degree of 

 separation of the legs : this would be the case if, as in the legs of 

 a compass, they only touched the ground at two points; but the 

 length of foot must be takei into consideration when estimating 

 the length of a step, for the foot touches the ground first with the 

 heel, while the toe is the last part to leave the ground, 'lhus in 

 esti muting the total length of the stride, the length of the foot which 

 is extended along the ground must be added to it. It follows then, 

 that for lege of equal length, those which have the smallest feet take 

 the shortest steps, and, similarly, that a s! ort boot will have the same 

 shortening effect. Finally, a high heel, by curtailing the total length 

 of foot in contact with the ground, will also detract from the length 

 of stride. 



