PRIMITIVE WEAPONS AND ARMOR OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 9 



bony structure, and striking weapons to stun, to bruise, and to break 

 the bones. 



They are (1) held in the hand; (2) attached to the end of a 

 shaft; (3) hurled from the hand, as a javelin; (4) shot from a bow, 

 arbalest, catapult, or gun; or (5) thrown from a sling, throwing 

 stick, or balista. 



Natural objects, slightly modified, were the first cutting or slash- 

 ing weapons. In one area they were shark's teeth fastened on a 

 handle; in another, silicious stones, used singly or on shafts, did the 

 murderous work. Weapons of this class, however, were crude until 

 the age of metals, when they assumed the first rank. 



Hand weapons for piercing or stabbing, as for instance, daggers, 

 which undergo various modifications, according to the grade of cul- 

 ture, the materials at hand, and the taste or idiosyncrasies of peoples. 

 The first forms were pointed spines of vegetal or animal substances, 

 either in their natural state or ground to a point. Metal weapons 

 of this class for merely piercing are scarce. The function of cutting 

 as well is easily added by making the blade triangular and sharp- 

 ening the sides. The effect is then to pierce a vital organ or to sever 

 a blood vessel. The bayonet is the modern expression of the hand 

 weapon for piercing added to a musket or rifle. 



Cut-and-thrust weapons, with hilts, include sabers, swords, rapiers, 

 claymores, and their congeners. When fastened to the end o.f a 

 shaft or handle, they are halberts or Japanese long swords; when 

 thrown from the hand, they branch out into the large class of Afri- 

 can trumbases and throwing irons. The saber has but one edge, the 

 back being thick and strong. The sword is the perfection of this 

 type of weapons, having two edges and a point. The saber cuts 

 flesh and blood vessels, and in its modern form with its dull edge 

 also makes ugly bruises, and so comes into the category of bruising 

 weapons. The sword is for piercing, cutting, and even for break- 

 ing bones, and in its largest form is used with both hands. Burton 

 regards it as the most exalted weapon in single combats. 



Piercing weapons are either held in the hand or attached to a 

 shaft. They are thrown from the hand, slung from the throwing 

 stick, or moved by elasticity. Those moved by elasticity may be 

 discharged from a blowtube, from a bow, from an arbalest, or from 

 a firearm. The progress of invention in the piercing projectile 

 is marked in the perfecting, firstly, of the projectile itself; secondly, 

 of the elastic device or projector; and, thirdly, of the mechanism 

 or release. 



The bow is an elastic rod or stave which is bent, the two ends 

 being united by a tough string. A bolt is shot from this apparatus, 

 either to pierce, to cut, or to bruise. The first bows were unmodi- 

 fied staves; the latest were made up of several pieces of differ- 



