The Gait of Land Animals 
the nature of which movement much mis- 
understanding long prevailed. We find, for 
example, the following passage in a book on 
“Animal Locomotion,” published no longer 
ago than 1874 :— 
“The gallop has been erroneously believed 
to consist of a series of bounds or leaps, 
the two hind-legs being on the ground when 
the two fore-legs are in the air, and vice 
versd, there beg a period when all four 
are in the air. A little reflection 
will show that this definition of the gallop 
cannot be the correct 
one. When a horse takes 
a ditch or a fence he 
eathers him- self together, 
and by a vigorous 
effort (par- fiorlenly of 
the hind-legs) 
throws himself into the 
air. This movement 
requires an immense 
exertion and is short- 
lived. It is not in the 
power of any horse 
to repeat these bounds 
for more than a few 
minutes ; from which it 
follows that the gallop, 
which may be con- 
tinued for considerable 
periods, must differ 
very materially 
from the leap.” 
This passage 
illustrates the 
danger of @ 
21 
old conventional style—that is to say, as it 
appears to the eye (Fig. 10). We use this 
conventional method in drawing the wheels 
of a carriage when travelling at speed, the 
spokes bemg depicted as a confused blur, 
although each would be shown perfectly 
distinct in an instantaneous photograph. 
If we use the conventional method in the 
case of revolving wheels, we should employ 
it in the case of a galloping horse. It has 
already been mentioned that most horses, 
when galloping or cantering, lead with the 
left fore-foot; and it is not a little remark- 
able that 1m thoroughbreds and Arabs the 
articulations of this foot are more strongly 
developed than are those of its fellow. 
Yet another pace of the horse, albeit an 
artificial one, remains to be mentioned, the 
existence of this pace—known as the amble 
(Fig. 11)—being a matter of considerable 
interest as showing that the lateral mode 
of progression, as it may 
be termed, is perfectly 
compatible with the 
diagonal type, and thus 
proving that the two do 
not depend upon struc- 
a " 
iit \ 
tural differences in the 
animals in which they 
normally 
oceur, Jha 
the amble 
the two feet 
\: of one side 
are moved 
‘ a simultane- 
ously for the 
prvord reasoning 
first step, and 
in such matters, 
for, as a matter 
of fact, the older observers were right and 
their successors and critics in the wrong, 
photography having shown that at intervals 
in the gallop all four feet of the horse 
are simultaneously in the air. ‘This opens 
up a question in regard to the proper 
manner of depicting a galloping horse. 
When an instantaneous photograph is repro- 
duced, all the four feet of the horse are 
often shown in the air; but this is not 
what we see. And, in our opinion, a 
galloping horse ought to be drawn in the 
are followed 
by those of 
the opposite side for the second. By the 
rapid succession of movements of this nature 
the sides of the body of an ambling horse 
are alternately thrust forwards, thereby pro- 
ducing a lateral swayimg movement, far less 
graceful than the one which results from 
trotting, but much more easy to the rider. 
Giraffes progress in the same manner when 
moving at their ordinary pace (Fig. 14), 
advancing first the two limbs of one side 
and then those of the other. Whether a 
swinging lateral motion of this kind is the 
