136 



OUR PHYSICAL WORLD 



FIG. 52. The crossbow 



vegetable fiber. The shaft of the feather lay parallel to the long 

 axis of the arrow or perhaps slightly inclined the latter to make the 



arrow rotate as it flew. 

 Among some savage 

 tribes the arrowheads 

 are barbed with 

 thorns, fish spines, or 

 porcupine quills to in- 

 flict as bad a wound 

 as possible and to 

 make them difficult to 

 withdraw. 



The crossbow was 

 used in European 

 armies as an improve- 

 ment on the bow. A very strong bow 

 was set at the end of a grooved stick. 

 A small windlass at the other end drew 

 back the string which could be released 

 by a trigger. The arrow or bolt lay in 

 the groove and was driven at the foe 

 or game by the bowstring. The cross- 

 bowmen made a formidable part of 

 the army (Fig. 52). 



The bow and crossbow as weapons 

 in war and in the chase were replaced 

 by the gun, when powder was intro- 

 duced into Europe. Archery still 

 exists, however, as a national sport 

 among many peoples. The Royal 

 Scottish Archers, the Woodsmen of 

 Arden, and similar organizations still 

 keep alive the use of the bow and arrow in England, and there are 

 several archery associations in this country. It is no mean art to 

 acquire this handling of such a powerful bow (Fig. 53). The 



FIG. 53. An archer in correct 

 position. 



