BOW AND ARROW 



869 



hand holding the arrow on the string was 

 drawn to the right ear. Suddenly released, 

 the bow sprung back into its former position 

 and the shaft sped on its mission. The weap- 

 ons used in modern archery are made on the 

 same principles, but are smaller. 



The usual wood employed for bows is yew; 

 in medieval times the' importation of yew 

 staves into England was demanded of every 

 merchant, to insure a sufficient supply, and 

 bow-making was an important industry. Laws 

 were passed compelling towns to provide 

 grounds for archery and in the thirteenth and 

 fourteenth centuries all other sports were for- 

 bidden on Sundays and holidays. The cross- 

 bow was a bow placed in a rest, similar to the 

 barrel of a gun, with a "stock" which was 

 held against the shoulder. The bow was bent, 

 and the string was placed over a trigger which 

 when pulled released it and discharged the 

 arrow, which lay in a groove along the bar- 

 rel. The crossbow (which see) never acquired 

 the popularity of the longbow, which was in 

 every way superior. 



The bow and arrow constituted the typical 

 weapon of the chase employed by the North 

 American Indians before they learned the use 

 of firearms. Their arrowheads were of two 

 kinds, sharp, and blunt or top-shaped. The 



THE ARROW 



At top, the Indian war arrow. Below : the 

 first and second arrowheads were for use in 

 war ; the third was the usual form employed 

 in hunting. 



latter were for the purpose of stunning the 

 prey. The arrow points were made of vari- 

 ous materials, including ivory, bone, wood, 

 copper and stone, and were attached to the 

 shaft by lashing with sinew or riveting with 

 gum. Reeds, canes, ivory, bone and wood 

 were utilized in making the body part of the 

 arrow. Several varieties of bow were in use, 

 differing in size, material and shape. In the 

 Arctic regions, where material was scarce, 

 whales' ribs and driftwood were utilized. The 



Northern Athapascan tribes made long, straight 

 bows of willow or birch, the tribes of the Saint 

 Lawrence region used ash, hickory, oak and 

 other hard wood, and so on. Sometimes the 

 bows were beautified with painted decora- 

 tions. F.ST.A. 



BOWDOIN, bo'd'n, COLLEGE, the best- 

 known college in Maine, famed as the oldest 

 institution of learning in the state and num- 

 bering among its graduates such distinguished 

 men as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry W. 

 Longfellow, Franklin Pierce, Melville W. Ful- 

 ler, Thomas B. Reed and Robert E. Peary. 

 The college was chartered in 1794 under the 

 laws of Massachusetts, of which Maine was 

 then a district, and was named for James 

 Bowdoin, a prominent statesman of the period 

 (see below). It was opened at Brunswick in 

 1802, now comprises a group of buildings val- 

 ued at $1,000,000, and holds rank with the best 

 of the smaller colleges of the United States. 

 The Medical School of Maine, opened in 1820, 

 is connected with it. The college has an aver- 

 age of eighty-five professors and instructors 

 and 450 students. The library contains nearly 

 110,000 volumes. 



Bowdoin, James (1726-1790) was born in 

 Boston and educated at Harvard College. An 

 eager patriot throughout the pre-Revolution- 

 ary struggle, he served Massachusetts as a 

 representative in the general court, as state 

 senator and as president of the colonial council. 

 In 1779 he presided with distinction over the 

 Massachusetts constitutional convention, and 

 succeeded John Hancock as governor in 1785. 

 His administration was notable for the energy 

 he showed in putting down Shays's Rebellion 

 (which see). At the close of his term of office 

 he took part in the proceedings of the Massa- 

 chusetts convention that ratified the Constitu- 

 tion of the United States. Bowdoin was a 

 man of scholarly and artistic tastes, and was 

 one of the founders of the American Academy 

 of Arts and Sciences (which see). 



BOWELL, bou' el, SIR MACKENZIE (1823- 

 1917), a Canadian journalist and statesman, 

 Premier of the Dominion from 1894 to 1896. 

 He was at one time Grand Master of The 

 Orange Association of British America, and 

 for years its spokesman in the Dominion Par- 

 liament. Sir Mackenzie was born at Ricking- 

 hall, England, on December 23, 1823, but his 

 parents emigrated to Canada in 1833, bringing 

 their ten-year-old son with them. At Belle- 

 ville, where they settled, the boy received a 

 common school education and won success as 



