Part 1

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Transcriber’s notes:

The text of this e-book has been preserved in its original form apart from correction of several typographic errors: (rog → frog, arrranged → arranged, downword → downward, and → of (in journal title), developes → develops). Inconsistent use of accents and hyphenation, and inconsistent spelling, e.g. referable/referrible, has not been altered. Several redundant parentheses have been deleted. Paragraphs of quoted text on pp. 17–19 are incomplete and/or paraphrased (compared with the original source); ellipsis dots have been inserted to indicate text omissions, and quotation marks inserted where they were lacking.

Some illustrations have been moved nearer to the relevant text and their location therefore does not necessarily correspond to that shown in the List of Illustrations. Footnotes have been numbered and positioned below the relevant parapraphs.

THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES.

LIST OF THE VOLUMES ALREADY PUBLISHED.

*THE FORMS OF WATER IN RAIN AND RIVERS, ICE AND GLACIERS.* By J. TYNDALL, LL.D., F.R.S. With 26 Illustrations. Third Edition. Crown 8vo. 5s.

“One of Professor Tyndall’s best scientific treatises.”--_Standard._

“With the clearness and brilliancy of language which have won for him his fame, he considers the subject of ice, snow, and glaciers.”--_Morning Post._

“Before starting for Switzerland next summer every one should study ‘The Forms of Water.’”--_Globe._

“Eloquent and instructive in an eminent degree.”--_British Quarterly._

*PHYSICS AND POLITICS*; or, THOUGHTS ON THE APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF “NATURAL SELECTION” AND “INHERITANCE” TO POLITICAL SOCIETY. By WALTER BAGEHOT. Crown 8vo. Second Edition. 4s.

“We can recommend the book as well deserving to be read by thoughtful students of politics.”--_Saturday Review._

“Able and ingenious.”--_Spectator._

“A work of really original and interesting speculation.”--_Guardian._

*FOODS.* By Dr. EDWARD SMITH. Profusely Illustrated. Second Edition. Price 5s.

“A comprehensive résumé of our present chemical and physiological knowledge of the various foods, solid and liquid, which go so far to ameliorate the troubles and vexations of this anxious and wearying existence.”--_Chemist and Druggist._

“Heads of households will find it considerably to their advantage to study its contents.”--_Court Express._

“A very comprehensive book. Every page teems with information. Readable throughout.”--_Church Herald._

*MIND AND BODY*: THE THEORIES OF THEIR RELATIONS. By ALEXANDER BAIN, LL.D., Professor of Logic at the University of Aberdeen. Four Illustrations. Second Edition. 4s.

*THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY.* By HERBERT SPENCER. Crown 8vo. Second Edition. Price 5s.

*ON THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY.* By Professor BALFOUR STEWART. Fourteen Engravings. Price 5s.

*ANIMAL MECHANICS: or, Walking, Swimming, and Flying.* By Dr. J. B. PETTIGREW, M.D. F.R S. 130 Illustrations. Price 5s.

*RESPONSIBILITY IN MENTAL DISEASE.* By Dr. HENRY MAUDSLEY.

*THE ANIMAL FRAME.* By Prof. E. J. MAREY. 119 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. Price 5s.

*THE NEW CHEMISTRY.* By Prof. JOSIAH P. COOKE, of the Harvard University. Numerous Engravings. Price 5s.

☞ For List of forthcoming Volumes, see end of the book.

HENRY S. KING & CO. 65 CORNHILL, and 12 PATERNOSTER ROW.

ANIMAL LOCOMOTION

OR

WALKING, SWIMMING, AND FLYING,

WITH A DISSERTATION ON

AËRONAUTICS.

BY

J. BELL PETTIGREW, M.D. F.R.S. F.R.S.E. F.R.C.P.E.

PATHOLOGIST TO THE ROYAL INFIRMARY OF EDINBURGH; CURATOR OF THE MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF EDINBURGH;

Extraordinary Member and late President of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh; Croonian Lecturer to the Royal Society of London for 1860; Lecturer to the Royal Institution of Great Britain and Russell Institution, 1867; Lecturer to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, 1872; Author of numerous Memoirs on Physiological Subjects in the Philosophical and other Transactions, etc. etc. etc.

_ILLUSTRATED BY 130 ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD._

HENRY S. KING & CO.

65 CORNHILL, AND 12 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.

1873.

PREFACE.

In the present volume I have endeavoured to explain, in simple language, some difficult problems in “Animal Mechanics.” In order to avoid elaborate descriptions, I have introduced a large number of original Drawings and Diagrams, copied for the most part from my Papers and Memoirs “On Flight,” and other forms of “Animal Progression.” I have drawn from the same sources many of the facts to be found in the present work. My best thanks are due to Mr. W. Ballingall, of Edinburgh, for the highly artistic and effective manner in which he has engraved the several subjects. The figures, I am happy to state, have in no way deteriorated in his hands.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF EDINBURGH, _July 1873_.

CONTENTS.

ANIMAL LOCOMOTION.

INTRODUCTION.

PAGE

Motion associated with the life and well-being of animals, 1

Motion not confined to the animal kingdom; all matter in motion; natural and artificial motion; the locomotive, steamboat, etc. A flying machine possible, 2

Weight necessary to flight, 3

The same laws regulate natural and artificial progression, 4

Walking, swimming, and flying correlated, 5

Flight the poetry of motion, 6

Flight a more unstable movement than that of walking and swimming; the travelling surfaces and movements of animals adapted to the earth, the water, and the air, 7

The earth, the water, and the air furnish the fulcra for the levers formed by the travelling surfaces of animals, 8

Weight plays an important part in walking, swimming, and flying, 9

The extremities of animals in walking act as pendulums, and describe figure-of-8 curves, 9

In swimming, the body of the fish is thrown into figure-of-8 curves, 10

The tail of the fish made to vibrate pendulum fashion, 11

The tail of the fish, the wing of the bird, and the extremity of the biped and quadruped are screws structurally and functionally. They describe figure-of-8 and waved tracks, 12

The body and wing reciprocate in flight; the body rising when the wing is falling, and _vice versâ_, 12

Flight the least fatiguing kind of motion. Aërial creatures not stronger than terrestrial ones, 13

Fins, flippers, and wings form mobile helics or screws, 14

Artificial fins, flippers, and wings adapted for navigating the water and air, 14

History of the figure-of-8 theory of walking, swimming, and flying, 15

Priority of discovery on the part of the Author. Admission to that effect on the part of Professor Marey, 16

Fundamental axioms. Of uniform motion. Motion uniformly varied, 17

The legs move by the force of gravity. Resistance of fluids. Mechanical effects of fluids on animals immersed in them. Centre of gravity, 18

The three orders of lever, 19

Passive organs of locomotion. Bones, 21

Joints, 23

Ligaments. Effects of atmospheric pressure on limbs. Active organs of locomotion. Muscles; their properties, arrangement, modes of action, etc., 24

Muscular cycles. Centripetal and centrifugal movements of muscles; muscular waves. Muscles arranged in longitudinal, transverse, and oblique spiral lines, 25–27

The bones of the extremities twisted and spiral, 28

Muscles take precedence of bones in animal movements, 29

Oblique spiral muscles necessary for spiral bones and joints, 31

The spiral movements of the spine transferred to the extremities, 33

The travelling surfaces of animals variously modified and adapted to the media on or in which they move, 34–36

PROGRESSION ON THE LAND.

Walking of the Quadruped, Biped, etc., 37

Locomotion of the Horse, 39

Locomotion of the Ostrich, 45

Locomotion of Man, 51

PROGRESSION ON AND IN THE WATER.

Swimming of the Fish, Whale, Porpoise, etc., 66

Swimming of the Seal, Sea-Bear, and Walrus, 74

Swimming of Man, 78

Swimming of the Turtle, Triton, Crocodile, etc., 89

Flight under water, 90

Difference between sub-aquatic and aërial flight, 92

Flight of the Flying-fish; the kite-like action of the wings, 98

PROGRESSION IN OR THROUGH THE AIR.

The wing a lever of the third order, 103

Weight necessary to flight, 110

Weight contributes to horizontal flight, 112

Weight, momentum and power to a certain extent synonymous in flight, 114

Air-cells in insects and birds not necessary to flight, 115

How balancing is effected in flight, 118

Rapidity of wing movements partly accounted for, 120

The wing area variable and in excess, 124

The wing area decreases as the size and weight of the volant animal increases, 132

Wings, their form, etc. All wings screws, structurally and functionally, 136

The wing, during its action, reverses its planes, and describes a figure-of-8 track in space, 140

The wing, when advancing with the body, describes a looped and waved track, 143

The margins of the wing, thrown into opposite curves during extension and flexion, 146

The tip of the bat and bird’s wing describes an ellipse, 147

The wing capable of change of form in all its parts, 147

The wing during its vibration produces a cross pulsation, 148

Compound rotation of the wing, 149

The wing vibrates unequally with reference to a given line, 150

Points wherein the screws formed by the wings differ from those in common use, 151

The wing at all times thoroughly under control, 154

The natural wing when elevated and depressed must move forwards, 156

The wing ascends when the body descends, and _vice versâ_, 159

The wing acts upon yielding fulcra, 165

The wing acts as a true kite both during the down and up strokes, 165

Where the kite formed by the wing differs from the boy’s kite, 166

The angles formed by the wing during its vibrations, 167

The body and wings move in opposite curves, 168

THE WINGS OF INSECTS, BATS, AND BIRDS.

Elytra or wing cases and membranous wings; their shape and uses, 170

THE WINGS OF BATS.

The bones of the wing of the bat; the spiral configuration of their articular surfaces, 176

THE WINGS OF BIRDS.

The bones of the wing of the bird; their articular surfaces, movements, etc., 178

Traces of design in the wing of the bird; the arrangement of the primary, secondary, and tertiary feathers, etc., 18O

The wing of the bird not always opened up to the same extent in the up stroke, 182

Flexion of the wing necessary to the flight of birds, 183

Consideration of the forces which propel the wings of insects, 186

Speed attained by insects, 188

Consideration of the forces which propel the wings of bats and birds, 189

Lax condition of the shoulder-joint in bats and birds, 190

The wing flexed and partly elevated by the action of elastic ligaments; the nature and position of said ligaments in the Pheasant, Snipe, Crested Crane, Swan, etc., 191

The elastic ligaments more highly differentiated in wings which vibrate rapidly, 193

Power of the wing, to what owing, 194

Reasons why the effective stroke should be delivered downwards and forwards, 195

The wing acts as an elevator, propeller, and sustainer, both during extension and flexion, 197

Flight divisible into four kinds, 197

The flight of the Albatross compared to the movements of a compass set upon gimbals, 199

The regular and irregular in flight, 201

Mode of ascending, descending, turning, etc., 201

The flight of birds referable to muscular exertion and weight, 204

Lifting capacity of birds, 205

AËRONAUTICS.

The balloon, 210

The inclined plane, 211

The aërial screw, 215

Artificial wings (Borelli’s views), 219

Marey’s views, 226

Chabrier’s views, 233

Straus-Durckheim’s views, 233

The Author’s views; his method of constructing and applying artificial wings, as contra-distinguished from that of Borelli, Chabrier, Durckheim, and Marey, 235

The wave wing of the Author, 236

How to construct an artificial wave wing on the insect type, 240

How to construct a wave wing which shall evade the superimposed air during the up stroke, 241

Compound wave wing of the Author, 242

How to apply artificial wings to the air, 245

As to the nature of the forces required for propelling artificial wings, 246

Necessity for supplying the roots of artificial wings with elastic structures in imitation of the muscles and elastic ligaments of flying animals, 247

The artificial wave wing can be driven at any speed--it can make its own currents or utilize existing ones, 251

Compound rotation of the artificial wave wing. The different parts of the wing travel at different speeds, 252

How the wave wing creates currents and rises upon them, and how the air assists in elevating the wing, 253

The artificial wing propelled at various degrees of speed during the down and up strokes, 255

The artificial wave wing as a propeller, 256

A new form of aërial screw, 256

The aërial wave screw operates upon water, 257

The sculling action of the wing, 231

CONCLUDING REMARKS, 258

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

The Engravings are, with few exceptions, from Photographs, Drawings, and Designs by Mr. Charles Berjeau and the Author. Such as are not original are duly acknowledged.

FRONTISPIECE. PAGE

In the clutch of the enemy--(_The Graphic_).

The three orders of lever--(_Bishop_), 19, 20

The skeleton of a Deer--(_Pander and D’Alton_), 21

Muscular cycle in the act of flexing the arm, 25

Screws formed by the bones of the wing of the bird, the bones of the anterior extremity of the Elephant, and the cast of the interior of the left ventricle of the heart, 28

The muscular system of the Horse--(_Bagg_), 30

The feet of the Deer, Ornithorhynchus, Otter, Frog, and Seal, 34

The Red-throated Dragon, 35

The Flying Lemur, 35

The Bat, 36

Chillingham Bull with extremities describing figure-of-8 movements, 37

Double waved tracks described by Man in walking, 39

Horse in the act of trotting, 41

Footprints of the Horse in the walk, trot, and gallop-- (_Gamgee_), 43

Skeleton of the Ostrich--(_Dallas_), 47

Ostriches pursued by a hunter, 48

Skeleton of Man, 55

The positions assumed by the extremities and feet in walking-- (_Weber_), 59

Preparing to run--(_Flaxman_), 62

The skeleton of a Perch--(_Dallas_), 65

The Salmon swimming leisurely, 65

Swimming of the fish according to Borelli, 67

Swimming of the fish according to the Author, 68

The Porpoise and Manatee, 73

The skeleton of the Dugong--(_Dallas_), 74

The Seal, 74

The Sea-Bear, 76

The elliptical, looped, and spiral tracks made in swimming, 81

The several attitudes assumed by the extremities in swimming in the prone position, 82

Overhand swimming, 85

Side swimming, 86

Swimming of the Turtle and Triton, 89

Swimming of the Little Penguin, 91

Sub-aquatic flight or diving, 94

The feet of the Swan as seen in the open and closed condition, 96

The foot of the Grebe with swimming membrane--(_Dallas_), 97

Double waved track described by the feet of swimming birds, 97

The flight of the Flying-fish, 98

The wing a lever of the third order, 105

Figure-of-8 vertical track made by the wing in flight, 107

Do. horizontal track, 108

Feathers and cork flying forward, 112

Diagram illustrating how wings obtain their high speed, 120

Butterfly with large wings, 124

Beetle with small wings, 125

Partridge with small wings; Heron with large wings, 126

The wings of the Hawk and Albatross, 136, 137

The Green Plover with one wing flexed and the other extended, 138

Blur or impression produced on the eye by the rapidly oscillating wing of the insect, 139

Diagram in which the down and up strokes of the wing of the insect are analysed, 141

Diagrams illustrating the looped and waved tracks described by the wing of the insect, bat, and bird, 144

Figures showing the positions assumed by the wing of the bird during the up and down strokes (side view), 145

The positions assumed by the wing of the insect as it hastens to and fro and describes a figure-of-8 track, 147

The figure-of-8 curves made by the wing of the bird in flexion and extension, 147

The long and short axes of the wing, 149

The waved tracks described by the wing and body of the bird as they alternately rise and fall, 157, 163

The positions assumed by the wing of the bird during the down and up strokes (front view), 158

Analysis of the movements of the wing, 160, 161

The kite-like action and waved movements of the wing, 166

The Centaur Beetle and Water Bug, 171

The Dragon Fly, 172

The screws formed by the wing of the insect, bat, and bird, 174, 175, 176

The muscles, elastic ligaments, and feathers of the wing of the bird, 181

The flight of the King-fisher, 183

The flight of the Gull, 186

The flight of the Owl, 198

The flight of the Albatross, 200

Pigeon and Duck alighting, 203, 204

Hawk and quarry--(_The Graphic_), 206

The Vauxhall Balloon of Mr. Green, 208

Mr. Henson’s Flying Machine, 212

Mr. Stringfellow’s Flying Machine, 213

Sir George Cayley’s Flying Apparatus, 215

Flying Machine designed by De la Landelle, 217

Borelli’s Artificial Bird, 220

Diagrams illustrating the true and false action of the wing, 228

The sculling action of the wing as seen in the bird, 231

The artificial wave wing of the Author, 237

Do. do. with driving apparatus, 239

Various forms of artificial wings by the Author, 241

The compound wave wing of the Author, 243

Diagrams illustrative of artificial wing movements, 250

Diagram illustrating the currents produced by the movements of artificial wings, 253

The aërial wave screw of the Author, 256

Swallow in pursuit of insects, 260