PROGRESSIVE MOTION IN QUADRUPEDS. 439 



together ; so that the impulsions given are directed 

 much more laterally than in any other pace, and 

 the body is thrown into a strong undulatory motion 

 from side to side. 



Another kind of pace is the bound, which is 

 often practised by deer, and is performed by strik- 

 ing the ground with all the legs at the same 

 moment. It consists, therefore, like the gallop, of 

 a series of leaps ; but their direction is more uni- 

 formly upwards, from the concurrence of all the 

 legs in the same action. 



Nature has purposely endowed different tribes of 

 animals with very different capacities to execute 

 progressive movements, by the variations she has 

 introduced into the comparative lengths of the 

 several parts of the trunk, and the size and mobi- 

 lity of the extremities. Of all the large animals, 

 the Lion has been constructed with the finest pro- 

 portions for conferring both strength and activity. 

 The mass of his body is supported more by the fore 

 than by the hind extremities. In walking, the 

 Lion takes long strides, and exhibits strongly the 

 lateral undulations of the trunk. 



Quadrupeds having a very long, or a very mas- 

 sive body, or whose limbs are short and nearly of 

 equal height, are incapable of advancing by a 

 gallop, or at least cannot sustain this pace without 

 a painful effort, and never but for a short time. 

 The Tiger, which has a longer body than the Lion, 

 gallops with less facility ; and runs chiefly by an 

 acceleration of its walking pace. It excels princi- 

 pally in the vigour and extent of its bounds ; for 

 which it is admirably qualified by the prodigious 

 power of its muscles, enabling it to spring forwards 



