82 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The fighting-swords of the latter part of the eighteenth and for- 

 mer part of the nineteenth centuries (Fig. 27) were not very good, 

 either as rapiers or sabers, and marked a period of transition to one 



Sections or Sword-Blades. 



almost of decadence. The cavalry-swords of the early part of the 

 present century were clumsy and unscientific. With great width of 

 blade and a tendency to increase the width toward the point (Fig. 28),. 

 they were not intended for cutting weapons, and were almost useless 



as thrusting ones. The idea that weight at the. 

 sword-end was valuable in enhancing the force of 

 the cut was faulty in theory and practice, and was 

 rather a retrogression to the principle of the axe 

 than an advance in the true method of construc- 

 tion of the sword. This has given way to the mod- 

 ern sword, which combines within itself all the 

 powers of which the weapon is capable, is good 

 as a guard for thrusting and for cutting. Slightly 

 curved, but not so much as to impede its pointing 

 power, nor so wide as to be too heavy, stiffened by 

 grooves so as to be capable of use as a rapier, its 

 blade, with an edge on one side along its length, 

 is flattened at the point, where it is ribbed, for 

 strength, into a two-edged sword (Fig. 29). The 

 hilt has a wider guard, and is intermediate between the rapier type 

 and that of the basket form. Adopting the principles that have ob- 

 tained at various times, it is a good all-round weapon in skillful hands. 

 While Western nations have thus tended to adopt a straight blade, 

 Eastern races have almost without exception preferred a curved sword. 

 By reason both of their physical peculiarities and of the lighter char- 

 acter of the armor they wear, they have been accustomed to adminis- 

 ter cutting blows with their weapons rather than the straight, down- 

 right strokes that are adapted to Western strength and armor, and a 

 curved edge is more suitable for cutting blows. The hilt of the East- 

 ern sword is small, and the boss, or pommel, at the end of the hilt is 

 large, so as to prevent the sword from slipping when the drawing cut 

 is made. The Asiatic swords exhibit, moreover, greater divergencies 

 of type than the Western swords. Some, like the Persian cimeters 

 (Fig. 30), and the Malay creeses (Fig. 31), are often wavy, sometimes 

 resembling the conventional tongue of fire (flamboyant), forms which 

 may be due to the influence of the priests of the fire or the sun, or may 

 be copied from the curvature and ornamentation of the antelope-horn 

 dagger. The Albanian sword has the edge thrown forward by the 



