V68 



ANIMAL MECHANISM. 



CHAPTER IV. 



QUADRUPEDAL LOCOMOTION STUDIED IN THE HORSE. 



Insufficiency of the senses for the analysis of the paces of the horse- 

 Comparison of Duges— Rhythms of the paces studied by means of the 

 ear — Insufficiency of language to express these rhythms —Musical 

 notation — Notation of the amble, of the walking pace^ of the trot — 

 Synoptical table of paces noted according to the definition of each of 

 them by different authors— Instruments intended to determine by the 

 graphic method the rhythms of the various paces, and the rc-actions 

 which accompany them. 



Theh:^ is scarcely any branch of animal mechanics which 

 has given rise to more labour and greater controversy than the 

 question of the paces of the horse. The subject is one of 

 great importance to a large number of persons engaged in 

 special pursuits, but its extreme complexity has caused in- 

 terminable discussions. Any one who proposed at the present 

 time to write a treatise on the paces of the horse, would have 

 to discuss many different opinions put forward by a great 

 number of authors. 



While reading these works, on which so much sagacity of 

 observation and such rigorous reasoning have been expended, 

 one is astonished to find that the greater number of these 

 writers are not agreed in their definitions of the paces. This 

 disagreement in similar observers can only be accounted for 

 on the principle of the insufficiency of the means at their 

 disposal to enable them to analyse the very complex and rapid 

 movements of the horse. The difficulty of expressing in 

 words the rhythms and the durations of these various move- 

 ments adds still more to the confusion. When a horse is 

 running, and passing from one kind of motion to another ; 

 when he moves his limbs with a rapidity which makes one 

 dizzy, and according to the most varied rhythms, how can we 

 appreciate and describe faithfully all these actions ? It would 

 be as easy a task, after looking at the fingers of a pianist 



