The Loaded Shoulder Rises; Ponderation Over the Feet
Carrying a weight raises one shoulder and drops the other; the weight of a figure divides evenly over the supporting leg
Two small pen figures set into the text show a man carrying a load, illustrating the rule that the shoulder bearing a weight is always higher than the free shoulder. The central line of the combined weight of the man and his burden must pass over the center of the resting leg, or the whole would topple; necessity throws as much natural body-weight to one side as the added load weighs on the other, which requires the man to bend toward his lighter side. Short following chapters state that the weight of a figure resting on one leg divides equally about the center of gravity, and that a moving man carries his center of gravity over the center of the leg planted on the ground. A final rubric opens the question of the balance of a motionless animal on its legs.
On this page
The shoulder bearing the load rises, the free shoulder drops
The shoulder that carries the weight is always higher than the shoulder without weight. To keep the combined load over the center of the resting leg, the man throws as much natural body-weight to one side as the burden weighs on the other, bending and lowering his lighter side so that it shares the load.
Counterweighting the natural body against the carried load
The central line of the whole compound weight, the man plus his burden, must fall over the center of the supporting leg, otherwise the whole would collapse. Artful necessity balances the two by raising the loaded shoulder and lowering the light one so the natural weight thrown to one side equals the accidental weight added on the other.
Ponderation of the figure resting on one leg
The weight of a man resting on a single leg is always divided into equal opposite parts about the center of gravity that supports it. A moving man carries the center of his gravity over the center of the leg that rests on the ground.