Gait (animal locomotion)

“ The gait is shuffling; the motion of the body, which is never upright as in man, but bent forward, is somewhat rolling, or from side to side. The arms being longer than the Chimpanzee, it does not stoop as much in walking; like that animal, it makes progression by thrusting its arms forward, resting the hands on the ground, and then giving the body a half-jumping, half-swinging motion between them. ”

“ Its gait when traveling, and when it supposes itself unobserved, is altogether ambling—in other words, it, like a young foal, moves the two legs of one side forward at once. Its movements are rather slow, and as it walks or ambles along, its curious prehensile tail is carried just above the ground, and its rounded ears are directed forwards. ”

“ He is not a picturesque animal when he is on the move, with a sledge behind him jolting along at the end of its long, hide trace. He gets over the ground quickly, it is true, but he leaves all possible grace out of the performance. His gait is a series of long, striding slides, which make one think he is eternally on the point of coming down, and predict for him wrung withers, sprung hocks, and a necessity for embrocation on every muscle of his body. He overreaches at every step, and rattles his great splay hoofs against one another like some one playing castanets. ”

“ They have no thwarts in their canoes to sit upon, but squat down upon the bottom, or bend on their knees. This causes the legs to dwindle when young and to become decidedly crooked. This, too, is the cause of their decidedly shambling gait when walking. ”

“ Walking is consequently to be regarded as the result of a twisting diagonal movement in the trunk and in the extremities. Without this movement, the momentum acquired by the different portions of the moving mass could not be utilized. As the momentum acquired by animals in walking, swimming, and flying forms an important factor in those movements, it is necessary that we should have a just conception of the value to be attached to weight when in motion. In the horse when walking, the stride is something like five feet, in trotting ten feet, but in galloping eighteen or more feet. ”

“ They are fond of the water in hot weather, and seem delighted when they are rubbed with a brick, or any hard substance, on the upper part of the head. They are very sure-footed, have an active, shuffling gait, and generally travel about three or four miles an hour, but may be urged on to six when goaded by a man who runs behind the animal for that purpose. ”

“ This is particularly true of the movements of the extremities in walking, swimming, and flying.
Muscles are divided into the voluntary, the involuntary, and the mixed, according as the will of the animal can wholly, partly, or in no way control their movements. The voluntary muscles are principally concerned in the locomotion of animals. They are the power which moves the several orders of levers into which the skeleton of an animal resolves itself. ”

“ It had stood upright amongst the upright men, and turning to run had stooped, but only so much as a man might do when running with all his speed. In the gait there was a one-sided swing, just as some great man-ape — gorilla or chimpanzee — might have when, as travellers tell us, they help themselves along on the knuckles of the long fore-arm, the body swaying down to the side on which the hand touches the ground at each stride. ”

“ There is no limitation of the movements to a special division of the body; on the contrary, they spread from one muscle to another, and from one segment to another, rapidly and arhythmically. The gait is by turns skipping, dancing, or stumbling, interrupted by falls or by abrupt jerks of the loins. ”

“ It is not always continuous, but at times assumes an intermittent character, and is more marked when the animal is warm than when cool. If the lameness is near the knee joint, it is very liable to become aggravated when the animal is put to work, and the gait acquires then a peculiar character, arising from the manner in which the limb is carried outward from the knees downward, which is done by a kind of abduction of the lower part of the leg. ”

“ If, for instance, a man’s arms were so long that he could lean on them when running, and merely stooped a little in order to do so, we should hardly say that his gait was quadrupedal—and this is how the gorilla walks or runs under ordinary circumstances. ”

“ The body is more inclined forwards in running than in walking, and there is a period when both legs are off the ground, no such period occurring in walking. “In quick walking, the propelling leg acts more obliquely on the trunk, which is more inclined, and forced forwards more rapidly than in slow walking. The time when both legs are on the ground diminishes as the velocity increases, and it vanishes altogether when the velocity is at a maximum. ”

“ It never needs a halter or a harness. It is light, and little, and leans lovingly against you for support. Its gait is uniform and easy, beautiful and exhilarating to see, and simple to analyze. It glides along with smooth grace, as though it were alive. ”

“ An animal which has been at rest in his stable is taken out to work, and it will be presently noticed that there is something unusual in his movement. His gait is changed, and he travels with short, mincing steps, without any of his accustomed ease and freedom. This may continue until his return to the stable, and then, after being placed in his stall, he will be noticed shifting his weight from side to side and from one leg to another, continuing the movement until rupture of the bony structure takes place. ”

“ The imperfect supply of blood to the muscles of the extremities sometimes brings about an unsteadiness of gait in the hind limbs when the animal is trotted for a short distance and sometimes cramps supervene. ”

“ The first of these functions appears to be essentially connected with the habit of walking on the sole of the foot—plantigrade locomotion—and not on the knuckles or toes—digitigrade locomotion. Another method of climbing exists which is common to the rodents and the cats. In these animals the act of climbing depends upon the development of claws sufficiently long, strong and sharp to be attached like hooks to the roughened surfaces upon which the animal climbs and thus to support the body. ”

“ In cases of shoulder lameness the gait alone should be sufficient to render liability of error small, for with nearly every case there is a manifest inability to 'get the limb forward', and this is best seen at a side view when the animal is trotting past the observer. ”

“ In the canter the hind-legs are lifted alternately with the fore, and are carried outside of and beyond them, by a kind of swinging movement; when excited to a swifter pace, the hind-legs are often kicked out, and the nostrils are then widely dilated. The remarkable gait is rendered still more automaton-like by the switching at regular intervals of the long black tail which is invariably curled above the back, and by the corresponding action of the neck, swinging as it does like a pendulum, and literally giving the creature the appearance of a piece of machinery in motion. ”

“ The action of galloping will often, by the rapidity of the muscular movements and their quick succession, interfere with a nice study of their rhythm, and it is only under some peculiar circumstances that the examination can be safely conducted while the animal is moving with that gait. It is while the animal is trotting that the investigation is made with the best chances of an intelligent decision, and it is while moving with that gait, therefore, that the points should be looked for which must form the elements of the diagnosis. ”

“ Another more objectionable, dangerous, and less voluntary motion is the sudden jerking of the head upward, or to one side when excited under the saddle or in harness. The disorderly movements are not, as a rule, seen while the animal is at rest, but seem to be produced under the stimulus of exertion. ”

“ The difference in gait and motion is as remarkable as that of shape; for while the one glides gently along, as it were on tiptoe, or bounds onwards with the velocity of thought, the other appears to be oppressed by the weight of his ponderous and unwieldy bulk, and supporting himself on the full expansion of his dilated paws, scarcely moves without the semblance of an effort. ”

“ The digitigrade gait is found not only in all the dogs and cats, but in many other Carnivora and in the camels and llamas, as well. Transitions between the plantigrade and digitigrade gait are so numerous and gradual, that such terms as semi-plantigrade and semi-digitigrade are sometimes necessary. [91] An animal is said to be unguligrade when the weight is carried entirely upon the hoofs and is used only of hoofed animals; examples are the horses, pigs, deer, antelopes, oxen, etc. ”

“ The number of steps which a person can take in a given time in walking depends, first, on the length of the leg, which, governed by the laws of the pendulum, swings from behind forwards; secondly, on the earlier or later interruption which the leg experiences in its arc of oscillation by being placed on the ground. The weight of the swinging leg and the velocity of the trunk serve to give the impulse by which the foot attains a position vertical to the head of the thigh-bone ”

“ As the body cannot advance without the extremities, so the extremities cannot advance without the body. The double rolling movement is necessary to continuity of motion. If there was only one movement there would be dead points or halts in walking and running, similar to what occur in leaping. The continuity of movement necessary to progression in some bipeds (man for instance) is further secured by a pendulum movement in the arms as well as in the legs, the right arm swinging before the body when the right leg swings behind it, and the converse. ”

“ The retrograde movement of the limb is best seen in slow walking. In fast walking the pendulum movement is somewhat interrupted from the limb being made to touch the ground when it attains a vertical position, and therefore before it has completed its oscillation.38 The swinging forward of the body may be said to inaugurate the movement of walking. The body is slightly bent and inclined forwards at the beginning of each step. ”

“ He is a remarkably valuable animal, especially adapted to the climate and to the service required of him. Though small and delicate of limb he can carry a great weight, and his gait is not unlike that of our pacing horses, though with much less lateral motion, and is remarkably easy for the rider, certainly forming the easiest gait combined with rapidity of motion possessed by any breed. He has great power of endurance, is a small eater, requiring no grain as a general thing, but is satisfied with the green leaves and stalks of the corn, upon which he keeps in good condition and flesh. ”

“ In parts of Canada foals of from one to three days of age are found affected in such manner that more or less interference with the gait is to be seen in those moderately affected. There is, in some subjects, only a slight impediment in locomotion which is occasioned by inability to properly extend the digit. In other subjects, while able to stand and walk, great difficulty is experienced because of volar flexion of the phalanges. The more seriously affected animals are unable to stand and, in most instances, perish because of the effects of prolonged decubitus. ”

“ They walk erect, with a waddling or unsteady gait, but at a quick pace; the equilibrium of the body requiring to be kept up, either by touching the ground with the knuckles, first on one side then on the other, or by uplifting the arms so as to poise it. As with the Chimpanzee, the whole of the narrow, long sole of the foot is placed upon the ground at once and raised at once, without any elasticity of step. ”

“ These successive foot fallings are common to all dogs when galloping, and it is worthy of note that the same rotary action in the use of the limbs is adopted in the gallop of the elk, the deer and the antelope, all of which animals, like the dog, can for a time excel the horse in speed. ”

“ When the bird is fairly launched in space the elevator muscles are assisted by the tendency which the body has to fall downwards and forwards: by the reaction of the air; and by the contraction of the elastic ligaments. The air and the elastic ligaments contribute to the elevation of the wing, but both are obviously under control—they, in fact, form links in a chain of motion which at once begins and terminates in the muscular system. ”

“ It is thus that the wing is enabled to work up and utilize the thin medium of the air as a buoying medium.
Another drawback to great speed in man is his erect position. Part of the power which should move the limbs is dedicated to supporting the trunk. For the same reason the bones of the legs, instead of being obliquely inclined to each other, as in the quadruped and bird, are arranged in a nearly vertical spiral line. This arrangement increases the angle formed by any two bones, and, as a consequence, decreases the speed of the limbs, as explained. ”

“ The means of support afforded by the branches is too precarious, the form of locomotion which practical conditions impose upon the animal too restricted and interrupted to make the development of such a limb as the human leg possible. The need of supplementary support to which an unstable balance must give rise and the facility with which the arms can come to the aid of the legs as the animal makes its way from tree to tree are likewise factors which retard the development of efficient bipedal locomotion. ”

“ Although each flock was visited close to slaughter when gait is known to be poorest, within the survey as a whole we were able to evaluate the effect of age on locomotion problems throughout the growth period because of the wide range of age at slaughter. A post-thinning visit was associated with an increased average gait score of 0.25 over and above that due to the age at which the birds were assessed, probably due to the effect of the stress of the first thin, and/or the preponderance of larger, faster-growing male birds remaining in the flock after thinning. ”