OF ARROW-RELEASE. 153 



alluded to, the tertiary release, and a variety of the Med- 

 iteranean release, which will be described further on. 



During 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. Mr. Nai Tuan illus- 

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

 made of the bow and arrow, its practice being confined to 

 the shooting of small birds and fishes. 



Major 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 board in which the arrow rested. In the last 

 century, 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 

 arrow ran, and by this contrivance the bow coulcl 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 Wilkinson, the ancient Egyptians were familiar 

 with this curious adjunct to the bow. 



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

 ers, 1 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 



1 On the Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands. By Edward Horace 

 Man. Reprinted from the Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great 

 Britain and Ireland. 



ESSEX INST. BULLETIN, VOL. XVII 20 



