72 THE PROBLEM OF THE GALLOPING HORSE 



amble " and " the rack," or whether the walk, the trot, and 

 the gallop are their only natural gaits. 



The amble, in which the fore and hind leg on the same 

 side are advanced simultaneously, is a natural gait of the 

 elephant, the fastest Muybridge could get from that great 

 beast. He made a menagerie elephant amble at the rate 

 of a mile in seven minutes. The only other animal known 

 to habitually exhibit " the amble " is the giraffe. It is often 

 exhibited by the giraffes in the Zoological Gardens in 

 London, but has not, I believe, been recorded by a series 

 of instantaneous photographs. When going at full speed 

 over the grass wilds of Central Africa the giraffe exhibits 

 a gait more like the galloping of deer and antelopes, and 

 carries the long neck horizontally. No complete study of 

 the " gaits " of large animals other than the horse has been 

 made, since menagerie specimens and menagerie conditions 

 are not satisfactory for the purpose, and, unfortunately, it 

 has not been possible as yet to take series of photographs 

 of them in their wild conditions. 



The electric spark furnishes a most important means of 

 taking instantaneous photographs, but the operator must 

 perform in the dark. An electric spark can be obtained 

 which lasts only the one two-thousandth of a second, and 

 by its use as the sole illuminating agent we can get a 

 photograph of a phase of movement lasting only that 

 excessively short space of time, or, if we please, a succession 

 of such phases by using a succession of sparks. Thus, a 

 rifle bullet is readily photographed while in flight with 

 scarcely perceptible distortion. A wheel revolving many 

 hundred times a second can thus be photographed, and 

 appears to be stationary. Dr. Schillings has applied this 

 method to the photography of wild animals by night in 

 the forests of tropical Africa, and has published an 

 interesting book giving his photographic results. In order 

 to take these pictures the track followed by certain animals 



