4 BULLETIN" 16 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



have been service swords of the regulation type that have been used 

 in actual warfare, as is plainly indicated by their simplicity of design 

 and their lack of ornamental features and inscriptions. In other 

 cases they have been dress swords for use on special occasions. But 

 in either case they represent regulation types of such weapons and 

 thus indicate the period and the circumstances under which they 

 figured as the personal property of some notable military or naval 

 commander. Thus the swords of the two classes already discussed are 

 intrinsically much the same and vary only in the degree of their 

 historical significance. 



(3) The third class includes swords ordinarily known as presenta- 

 tion swords. The swords belonging to this class were not usually 

 intended for use either in war or on ordinary dress occasions. They 

 are usually of great intrinsic value with costly and ornate blades, 

 gold mountings, and jeweled hilts. Swords of this type were some- 

 times used on state occasions but ordinarily they were suited only 

 for display and not for use. The designs of man}^ of them are so 

 intricate and delicate as to preclude their being handled without 

 danger of serious injury. They were usually presented to their 

 original owners in recognition of some special distinguished service 

 during a period of national need and stress. As they were fre- 

 quenjtly made long after the performance of the deeds that they 

 commemorated and had so much ornamentation and intricate design, 

 they do not represent the technical history of the sword, as do those 

 of the other two classes under discussion. Presentation swords, 

 however, bear commemora,tive inscriptions on blades or scabbards 

 that record the achievements of their original owners, whose deeds 

 are also symbolized by the design of such weapons. Thus, while 

 the presentation sword lacks the technical interest of the swords of 

 the first two classes, it possesses an even greater degree of historical 

 interest. 



The three classes of swords are described under the period to which 

 they belong in the order given above. The swords of a technical 

 interest only are treated first, for the purpose of establishing the 

 general character of the swords used during a certain period. The 

 swords of personal as well as technical interest are described next, 

 and the presentation swords are given the final place in jthe general 

 scheme. 



NOMENCLATURE OF THE SWORD 



A brief explanation of the terms used in this publication referring 

 to the various parts of the swords and the order in which these are 

 described seems desirable. The blade is described first ; the shape of a 

 cross section of the blade, whether straight or curved, and the number 



