BOOMERANGS. 



But better and more instructive effects 

 can be obtained by a home-made little imple- 

 ment such as that shown in Fig. 17. It is 

 made of a half-inch board, about ten inches 

 by five, with a piece sawn out of one side. 

 A B is a piece of old whalebone, or its modern 

 steel equivalent, which can be got by making 

 application in the proper quarter at a suitable 

 time and in an unostentatious way. This is 

 tied or wired to the board at one end, and the 

 other is left just long enough to clear the 

 board at C, where, on being released from a 

 bent position, it will strike one end of a small 

 card or thin tin boomerang in such a way as 

 to give it at the same time a forward move- 

 ment as a whole and a strong spin in the plane 

 of flight. 



By varying the size and weight of the 

 boomerang, the strength and weight of the 

 spring, and the degree of twist at the angle 

 of the weapon, a great many of the effects 

 described above can be easily obtained on a 

 lawn, in the backyard, or even in a fair-sized 

 room. 



At D, in the figure on the preceding page, 

 are shown three short pieces of wire or beheaded 

 nails driven into the edge of the board in such a 

 way that they are behind the middle line. Their 

 front edges then form a convenient support 

 for the small weapon before firing at various 

 angles. 



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