Scientific American, September 29, 1883 Supplement. No. 404Various
Science
Scientific American, September 29, 1883 Supplement. No. 404
Various
Science -- Periodicals
It is curious to see that this expression of successive attitudes of
the trunk and limbs, by means of a series of lines expressing the
direction of the bones, has been precisely adopted by the ancient
authors as being the most explicit and capable of making the phases of
a movement understood. Thus, Vincent and Goiffon, in their remarkable
work on the horse, have tried to represent by lines at different
angles the displacements of the bones of limbs while taking a step.
It is not necessary to expatiate on the superiority photography has
over actual observation for this purpose, giving the true positions of
the limbs, while the eye is incapable of taking in such rapid actions
in such short spaces of time.
At the commencement of this century the brothers Weber had recourse
to the same mode of representation to explain the successive actions
produced in the walk of a man. It was by reducing the walker to
the figure of a skeleton that these eminent observers succeeded in
presenting, without confusion, a number of images expressing different
attitudes.
The method of constructing the bright metal bands which in the
photograph explain the position of the joints, requires special
mention. As the length of exposure is very short, a substance having
great brilliancy must be employed. The strips of metal are not equally
luminous down their entire length, because they do not reflect the
solar rays at the same angle; they present lines of unequal intensity
on the negatives. I have obtained the best results with small strips of
black wood with nails having hemispherical bright metal heads driven in
at regular intervals. Each little rounded surface reflected the image
of the sun very brilliantly. In the photograph these lines of nails are
reproduced as dotted lines. At the ankle, knee, and hip joints, nails
of larger dimensions were inserted, showing these centers of movement
by a much larger dot.
Partial photographs obtained by this method allow of the different acts
of locomotion being analyzed, as well as the movements of walking,
running, or jumping.
* * * * *
DETECTIVE PHOTOGRAPHY.
For several years Mr. D. N. Carvalho, the New York photographer, has
made a specialty of the delicate use of photography which is brought
into play more and more in connection with criminal cases in which
disputed handwriting, forgeries, counterfeit money, etc., are features.
The results now achieved are the outcome of years of experiment, and
the photographic expert becomes in the end an expert in handwriting.
Mr. Carvalho's gallery of records is an interesting illustration of
what perseverance and ingenuity, aided by photography, can do toward
solving apparently hopeless mysteries. To a reporter, who visited his
studio, he said:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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