Why Lost Men Walk in a Circle

Bush Advocate, Volume IX, Issue 796, 24 June 1893, Page 5

Why Lost Men Walk in a Circle

It is a matter of common knowledge that when a man is walking blindfold, or~is lost in a fog, or in some unknown forest or desert instead of walking straight, he has always a tendency to work round in a circle. The m jst commonly accepted explanation of this curious fact is the slight inequality in the longth of a man's legs. The result of one limb being longer than the other will naturally be that a person will unconscionsly take a longer step with the longer limb, and consequently will trend to the right or to the left, according us the right or left is the longer, unless the tendency to deviation is corrected by the eye. This explanation is supported by the fact that in the majority of cases the human legs are provod to be of unequal length. Tho careful measurements of a series of skeletons showed that no less than 90 per cent, had the lower limbs unequal in length ; 35 per cent, had the right limb longer than the left, while in 55 per cent, the left leg was the longer. The left leg being, therefore, more often the longest, it is to be expected that tho inclination should take place more frequently to the right than to the left, and this conclusion is quite borne out by observations made on a number of persons when walking blindfolded.