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In 1872 the Governor of California had a dispute with a friend. He said that when a horse ran it had all four feet off the ground. The friend insisted that this did not happen. An English photographer, Mr. Muybridge, who was there, was asked if he could possibly take photographs which would decide the question. He placed twenty-four cameras along the racetrack with a piece of thread across the course attached to each shutter. The horse broke the thread and snapped the shutters as it ran past. In the end, when he had developed the plates Mr. Muybridge proved that for a few seconds the horse had all its feet off the ground. The governor had won, though the proof was rather expensive in the use of cameras.