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.,180

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