15 



as " carrying the musket in the left hand, balanced 

 on the middle finger " is concerned, this point seems 

 now to be about given up for a clutch with the 

 right hand, which does anything else rather than 

 conduce to the setting-up of the soldier. 



A similar failure in exact central action, and the 

 like eccentric results are noticeable in animals 

 whose motions are habitually controlled by the 

 human hand. Almost all horses bear more on one 

 side of the bit than on the other ; each has a favour- 

 ite leg. Do any wear out the shoes of both sides 

 ahke ? 



§ 2. When we observe that the most muscular 

 men are, often, not only less active, less supple, 

 and less enduring than others, but also that they 

 are not always the most powerful, it should seem 

 probable that the force of muscular contraction 

 often acts at a disadvantage, and is partially lost 

 from the want of a perfectly concentric action of 

 all parts of the bony framework on which the 

 muscles brace themselves. 



We assume then that some fault in the play of 

 the bony skeleton is the radical cause of the sol- 

 dier's deficiencies in movement, and it will be our 

 ^ndeavoui- to ascertain the nature of this fault, as 

 also, if possible, to search out some simple and 



