570 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 196 2 



the first requisite is precision made possible by the use of instruments 

 of greater sophistication. In shooting, these instruments are the bow 

 and arrow which in their present design and construction are indeed 

 sophisticated. To attain maximum precision with them requires : 



1. Minimum differences, in successive shots, in the energy stored in 

 the bow at equal lengths of draw. 



2. Minimum effects of temperature and humidity on the materials 

 of which the bow and the arrows are made. 



3. Minimum differences in dimensions, materials, and shapes of the 

 arrows comprising the set. 



4. Arrows of proper spine in relation to the bow. (Spine is a char- 

 acteristic of an arrow which depends on such factors as stiffness, resil- 

 ience, mass, and distribution of mass along the shaft.) 



5. Exact replication by the archer of all the sequences of action in 

 the process of shooting, i.e., of drawing the bow and "loosing" the 

 arrow. 



Requirement 5, which calls for near perfection in the archer's coordi- 

 nation and in the execution of the difficult, interrelated steps in the 

 shooting of an arrow, is to an extent dependent on the other specifica- 

 tions enumerated. His confidence in his ability to perform all the 

 necessary actions properly is increased if he can be sure that these 

 specifications are closely met. 



Figure 2. — The bow of Figure 1, strung ("braced") for shooting. 



In the United States the bow and arrow are used in five main cate- 

 gories of the overall sport. The oldest form, widely practiced, derives 

 from the kind of target shooting long practiced in England. It con- 

 sists of competitive rounds, variously named, such as York, American, 

 National. Each round consists of certain numbers of "ends" of six 

 arrows each, at several known distances. The York Eound, for exam- 

 ple, calls for 12 ends at 100 yards, 8 at 80 yards, and 4 at 60 yards for 

 a total of 144 shots. The standard target on a thick straw mat is 4 

 feet in diameter. Its gold bullseye is 0.8 foot in diameter. This is 

 surroimded by four concentric rings each 0.4 foot in width, having 

 colors red, blue, black, and white going outward from the gold. A hit 

 in the gold counts 9; and the rings, going outward, have values of 

 7, 5, 3, and 1, respectively. 



Clout and wand shooting are variations of the customary rounds. 

 In the former, a target 12 times the diameter of the standard, namely, 

 48 feet, is laid out on the turf, with its center 180 yards from the shoot- 

 ing line. The arrows are loosed at a high initial angle and come 



