The attitudes of animals in motion, illustrated with the zoopraxiscope

The text traces long-standing curiosity about animal locomotion, critiques conventional artistic depictions, and reviews earlier mechanical and photographic methods for recording gait. It describes the design and arrangement of a sequential multi‑camera apparatus with electrically triggered shutters that produce consecutive instantaneous exposures as animals pass, outlines experimental procedure and findings—particularly observations of limb coordination during various gaits—and shows how projecting those successive images reconstructs motion. The account argues that precise photographic records can resolve disputed details of movement and supply reliable evidence useful to both scientific inquiry and visual representation.