i02 
lavater’s 
ESSAY XII. 
Upon a Man^s Walk. 
A man’s natural pace is lefs fatiguing, and 
eafier to be defcribed than a motionlefs halt : 
ftanding, he muft have one foot ftill and firm, as a 
fupporter to the other that the mufcles are to put 
in motion. They both advance alternately, while 
the leg rifes, and the thigh is dragged on as if it 
were by Hiding knots j fo that the feet are con- 
tra6ted while the knees move forward, and all, in 
their turns, perform the talks affigned to them, in 
fuch exercife as varies in fpeed or agility. 
The toes touch the ground, more or lefs, ac- 
cording to the degree of velocity j the trunk bears 
upon the columns ; but they move one after 
the other, each making room for the mufcles to 
a£l their parts 5 and, in order to relieve them, we 
naturally lean forward, without confulting the 
graces, juft as mountaineers, particularly on the 
Alps, are apt to crofs fummits in a kind of amble, 
their bodies Hooping and Hoping, with an ap- 
parent degree of eafe, 
O/? 
