OF ARROW-KELEASE. 153 



alludecl to, the tertiary release, and a variety of the INIed- 

 itoraiieaii release, which will be described further on. 



Durins: the recent visit of the Siamese embassy to this 

 country, I obtained from its members through the cour- 

 tesy of Mr. Wilberforce Wyke, interpreter, some inter- 

 esting facts concerning the use of the bow in Siam. It 

 was curious to find that the Siamese practiced the tertiary 

 release ; with this difference, however, that one finger only 

 is used on the string instead of two. j\[r. Nai Tuan illus- 

 trated the method to me, and explained that little use was 

 made of the bow and arrow, its practice l)eing conlined to 

 the shooting of small birds and fishes. 



ISIajor Snayh of the embassy told me that poisoned ar- 

 rows were also used, in which case the bow was held hori- 

 zontally, and the bow-hand grasped not only the bow, but 

 a grooved l)()ard iu which the arrow rested. In the last 

 centur}', it was customary for the Turkish archer to use 

 a grooved piece of horn which was held in the bow-hand 

 directed towards the string. In this grooved piece the 

 an-ow ran, and by this contrivance the bow could be drawn 

 much further back, even to the extent of bringing the 

 head of the arrow four or five inches within the bow. Ac- 

 cording to AVilkinson, the ancient Kg3'ptians were familiar 

 with this curious adjunct to the bow. 



E. H. Man, Esq., in his work on the Andaman Island- 

 ers,^ p. 141, says that the inhabitants of Great Andaman 

 " place the arrow in position between the thumb and top 

 joint of the forefinger, and draw the string to the mouth 

 with the middle and third finger." As Mr. Man in this 

 description does not speak of the forefinger as bent and 



> On the Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islanrls. By Edward Horace 

 Man. Reprinted from tlic Journal of Ihe AnthropolKgical Institute of Great 

 Britain and Ireland. 



ESSKX INST. IJULLKTIN, VOL. XVII 20 



